Fatal Attraction
by CassieVulcanStarFleetCommand
Summary: "What do you mean you're not attracted to me!" "Well..." "How can you love me if you're not in love with my body!" "Because I love you for you?" "No, not acceptable, I won't spend the rest of my life having to only hold your hand because you love me but not my body. Relationships don't last without sex, Mattie!" - Alfred proves just how sexy he is to his non believing boyfriend.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Alfred loves Matthew. He really, _really _does. He doesn't really know how it began. But something just clicked when Arthur introduced him to his "friend from work"'s brother. Maybe it was the pretty colors of purple in his eyes, or maybe it was the slight tightening in his pants that happened any time the other teenager was around him, but let it be known that Arthur's weird French friend was at least good for something for without him Alfred doubted he would have ever met Matthew that one summer's day when Francois dragged the boy over for dinner and Alfred floundered over words and breath and thoughts just from being in the very presence of the other boy.

They discovered that night that they were going to be entering the same high school the upcoming fall and Alfred had taken pains to get Arthur (his older brother/guardian had some crazy good friends in the school system) to make sure most to all of his classes would be spent with the other boy.

In the end, though he wasn't happy about it, Arthur relented and did what he asked him to.

The rest was sort of History. Alfred followed Mattie around like a lost puppy wagging his tail from just the slightest attention from this beautiful boy and Matthew would blush and stammer and not really understand what was going on as he suddenly went from being ignored and overlooked to being the the very center of someone's life. If Arthur or Francois found it amusing or cute and laughed about it together in private neither Alfred or Matthew ever knew about it, but finally one night when Matthew spotted Alfred running towards his house with a beaming grin and a bouquet of roses that was losing it's petals very quickly as the boy ran something snapped and when Alfred rang the doorbell, not noticing that the flowers he had gotten were looking very much worse for wear and just a little... dead, Matthew swung the door open with more force than he meant to use, snatched the flowers from Alfred's hands and before the other boy could say anything quickly squeaked out, "Yes, I'll go out with you alright now go home and go to bed!" Before slamming the door in Alfred's face and leaning back against the door breathing heavy and heart beating nervously.

Outside it was quiet for a moment and then suddenly the sound of a cheer and several, "Yes, yes, yes!"'s could be heard.

Matthew smiled to himself in amusement and went to put his flowers in a vase. The two of them had been together ever since.

And Alfred really, _really_loved Matthew. He did. But... sometimes, late at night when the apartment they shared together wasn't tense from obsessive studying for exams or the loud obnoxious laughter of some of their friends, or worse family members, visiting, Alfred really wished Matthew would allow him to touch him...

"Al... Fuck, Al stop, come on cut it out," Matthew whined, pushing his palms against his boyfriends chest as Alfred continuously kissed and suckled on the pale skin of his neck, probably hoping to leave a little possessive mark before he was pushed from the bed and forced to call it a night. "Seriously Alfred I mean it."

Alfred sighed, pulling away slightly so he could meet Matthew's eyes even in the darkness of their room close as they were with him hovering over him, "Mattie come on... we've been together for years now... You gotta want to do something..."

Matthew frowned at him, "Not tonight Alfred, it just doesn't feel right tonight."

It was always the same old argument. Either Mattie was too tired, or too sick, or it didn't feel right or they were in public god Alfred just couldn't catch a break with the gorgeous blond he had been in love with for almost four years now.

The gorgeous blond that was keeping him a virgin for what felt like it might be forever at this point...

Leaning down slightly Alfred pressed their noses together, when Matthew didn't pull away he pressed several quick kisses against his boyfriend's frown, feeling giddy when his lips quivered and then pulled up into a little grin before kissing him back slowly. They remained like that for awhile, their kiss deepening slightly before Matthew pulled away to break for air and Alfred immediately went for the neck again.

Groaning Matthew pushed him off of him and onto the other side of the bed where he belonged. "Not tonight Alfred."

Alfred whined and nudged Matthew's foot with his own, trying not to sound childish and sex crazed and failing at it miserably he asked, "Why don't you ever want to do anything more with me? Mattie... We've been together for four years and we've never done more than kiss, we even live together for crying out loud-"

"You forget we've only been living together for a few months -"

"And you don't let me do any more than hold your hand in public and yes I know we can't have sex in the park around the corner, but why can't I kiss you or wrap you up in my arms for the world to see?" Feeling suddenly very vulnerable Alfred stared down at the pillow beneath him, "I mean... do you not love me? Are you ashamed of me?"

"What!? No!" Matthew whispered and felt himself shake slightly at where this conversation was leading. "Alfred you know I love you..."

"Then why don't you want to be with me?"

Alfred looked back up at the question and Matthew blinked away his own tears at the heartbroken look in his boyfriend's eyes. Slowly he scooted closer and wrapped his arms around Alfred's waist until his cheek was pressed against his strong chest right over the soft beating of his heart. He hid his tears in the wife beater Alfred always wore to bed and mumbled so softly even Alfred had to strain himself to hear, "Why can't this just be good enough? Why can't we just be like this..."

Sighing, Alfred brought his arms up to wrap around his boyfriend, "You can't be afraid of sex forever..."

"I'm not afraid..."

"Alright, sure you're not." Alfred mumbled smiling softly now as he bent down to kiss Matthew's head gently, "Go to sleep Mattie, I love you."

"I love you too Al."

"I know," Alfred sighed and closed his eyes, keeping Matthew wrapped right up in his arms and allowing his boyfriend to win once again, for now.

All hell didn't break loose until almost a month after that.

Alfred was half skipping half running back to their apartment after his shift had finished at the little corner store he worked at to pay for his half of the rent. He was a little early getting off but that suited him just fine because it meant he got the chance to run on home to his wonderful boyfriend that was probably cramming for some silly paper that wasn't going to be due for a good month or two instead of relaxing on his day off from the bookstore and maybe be able to convince him that it was a much better idea to watch horror movies in their tiny living room wrapped up in Alfred's arms with blankets over them and only candles for lighting... And maybe then Matthew would allow him to slowly unbutton and remove whatever shirt he was wearing and run his fingers down smooth pale skin, following the trail with his mouth until his sweet little maple leaf was a mess underneath him, crying his name and allowing Alfred to whisper how beautiful he is to him as they made love and ignored the movie completely.

Though if it was a horror movie that was unlikely to happen exactly how he wanted it to.

Ok but everything except the horror part was pretty damn romantic you gotta admit.

"Honey I'm home!~" He called out, swinging the door open with little grace and a loud bang as it smacked into the wall bounced off it and then swung back to hit it again. Normally Matthew would have cursed at him in both English and French about how there was going to be a dent in the wall if he kept doing that but today there wasn't a sound throughout the entire apartment. Frowning Alfred stepped across the threshold pulling his coat off his shoulders and kicking the door shut behind him. He slung his coat on one of the little hooks Mattie had hung up for that specific reason and then headed further into the apartment.

He considered stopping for a coke in the kitchen and then settling down in front of the TV until Mattie got home from wherever he had gone off too when an interesting sound caught his ears.

"Mattie?" He called down the small hallway that lead off to where the one and only bedroom in the tiny apartment was held along with the one and only bathroom. He got no reply but there was definitely noises coming from their bedroom and so curiously Alfred followed the noise.

As he got closer he began to make out some of the... words... if you could really call them that. Most of it was just quiet panting, but a few, "Uh"'s and "Oh"'s were definitely thrown in there as well as a few whines... a whimper.

Feeling heat pool around his groin at the sounds Alfred frowned and grabbed hold of the doorknob, hesitating only a moment before inching the door forward and peering inside.

Matthew was laid back on their bed lazily, his laptop resting half on his stomach and half on the bed. He had headphones on and was staring at whatever he was watching rather intently. Oh yeah and his hands were also down his pants.

"Fuck..." Alfred whimpered, the heat around his groin growing warmer still has he stared at his boyfriend masturbate. It was the first thing that he had ever seen of sweet little Mattie that wasn't all that sweet and it was really fucking around with his hormones. Smirking to himself at just how perfect all of this seemed Alfred snuck into the room unnoticed (amazingly...) and crept around to his side of the bed.

And fuck Matthew was really putting on a show for him. Biting his lip and whimpering as his hand pumped his cock that was just barely noticeable from underneath the sweatpants that were running a little low due to the wearer's naughty activities. When he closed his eyes and let out a breathy moan Alfred quickly reached over and shut the laptop, managing to pull it away along with the headphones before Matthew was able to shout out in surprise and yank his hand out of his pants.

"A-Alfred! I can explain!" He panted and Alfred's gaze darkened hungrily at the pink flush that dusted his cheeks that was surely not all embarrassment. Slowly he set the laptop and headphones down on the floor and then crawled up onto the bed towards his adorable, and super sexy, boyfriend.

"I don't need one," He chuckled and captured Mattie's lips with his own even as the man scrambled away from him. When he pulled away again he whispered breathlessly, "You looked amazing... It was a nice change."

And he lent in for a kiss again only to have Mattie push him away, "No Alfred, you don't understand-"

Alfred groaned, "I don't care that you masturbate Mattie, I just wish you would let me help you. It could feel so much better if you would just let me help you..." He went in for the kill again but Mattie rolled out from under him quickly diverting to the other side of the bed.

"That's not what I mean-"

"Mattie please stop fighting me," Alfred whined, lunging at him and pinning him down. This time his wish for a kiss was granted and Matthew allowed his lips to be dominated before breaking away a minute or two later for air. "You must still be horny after all that, let me help you alright?" Alfred chuckled, "I'll be your sexy hero."

"But Alfred -" Matthew squeaked when Alfred managed to pull the t-shirt he was wearing up over his head and then reach down for his sweat pants. Soft fingertips traced over his stomach for a second before grabbing hold of the pants hem and yanking them down. Alfred hunched over, planning on possibly giving his boyfriend a special treat when the part of him was revealed that Alfred so desperately wanted to see when Matthew's hands flew down and grabbed onto his sweatpants, keeping them up. "Alfred stop!"

"Oh for... why Mattie?" Alfred groaned flopping down onto the other side of the bed with a sigh. "Why can't I touch you? You're already hard, I doubt you would complain about my inexperience since you're just as-"

"I'm not hard anymore!"

Alfred stopped talking, blinking in confusion. How could Matthew not be hard anymore? He hadn't finished masturbating when Alfred had came in and stopped him... But sure enough when Alfred glanced down there was no tell tale bulge in his boyfriend's pants to show that little Mattie was still excited.

Confusion dripped through Alfred's blood, making him feel cold, "You didn't finish before I grabbed the laptop did you?"

There were tears in Matthew's eyes when he shook his head, "N-no..."

Something horrible and hurtful and just fucking awful clicked together in Alfred's mind then. The world suddenly got a hell of a lot less brighter for him as he asked, "Why aren't you...?"

"I... I'm not attracted to you... that way..."

Oh wow, was that the feeling of his heart completely breaking? It might just be...

Blinking back his own tears Alfred turned away from his boyfriend, not able to meet his eyes as he snapped out his next words, "What am I just too gross to think about in that way?"

"What? No! Alfred no that's not it-" Mattie's voice was shaking and Alfred knew he was crying but he couldn't bring himself to look back as hurt and embarrassment clouded his vision.

"Then why...?"

Matthew sniffled wiping at his eyes, "I just... I dunno, you've never really excited me to the point that I wanted to - to jump your bones or something..."

"What?"

"I... I guess I'm just not attracted to you..."

At this Alfred's shoulders began to shake, "What do you mean you're not attracted to to me!?" He snapped finally turning around to meet those beautiful purple eyes with his own. Matthew winced.

"Well it's just-"

But it seemed Alfred was having none of it, "How can you love me if you're not in love with my body too?!"

"Because I love you for you!" Matthew rushed to get out but Alfred just kept going, standing now so he could pace the floor of their bedroom.

"No, not acceptable," He hissed and Matthew winced from where he was kneeling on their bed, "I won't spend the rest of my life having to only hold your hand, or kiss your cheek because you love me but not my body. What did you expect that we could masturbate in separate rooms and just be happy with nothing else?"

Matthew's blood ran cold and more tears welled up in his eyes, "N-no... I wasn't... Are you... breaking up with me?"

Alfred paused in his pacing and stared at his long time boyfriend, sniffling and heartbroken on their bed as he rubbed at his eyes and tried so very hard not to cry. A little piece of him broke and hesitantly he headed back to sit on the edge of the bed. Reaching out he brushed a strand of hair from Matthew's face and then rested a hand on his shoulder.

"No..." He whispered and Matthew's shaking seemed to increase with relief. Quickly the taller blond lunged at his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his neck and holding on for dear life. Alfred gasped, "Jesus Matt!"

Matthew ignored him, "I'm so sorry Al! I... I just don't know what to do and -"

Alfred closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Mattie tightly, "It's ok..."

They sat like that for a while before Alfred got what must have been the best idea that he had ever, and I do mean ever, thought of.

"I'm gonna show you how sexy I am..."

Matthew hiccuped against his shoulder, "W-what?"

"I'm gonna show you how sexy I am," Alfred repeated and Matthew tensed slightly, "Not right now," Alfred quickly soothed him, "But give me a month. I'll do everything in my power to make you attracted to me and by the end I swear I'll have you screaming my name."

Matthew laughed and pulled back from their tight hug to look into his eyes, "You know... I'd like that. I really do love you Al... I don't want to lose you."

Alfred smiled, "I love you too Mattie, you know I do..." They kissed lightly for a moment before Alfred muttered, "Anything?" Against his lips and Matthew shook his head, breaking their kiss and the mood completely.

"I love kissing you, but it doesn't make me want to have sex with you..."

"Oh fuck..." Alfred sighed, bumping his forehead against Matthew while they were still pressed close together. "Then... I guess I gotta go." He untangled himself from Matthew and stood making his way out of the room.

"Wait what?" Matthew called scurrying after him, "What do you mean you have to go?"

"I can't stay here, going through our daily routine clearly isn't exciting you, I need a game plan," Alfred smiled warmly as he slipped into his jacket, "I'll stay at Arthur's for the next month."

"O-ok..." Matthew whispered watching sadly as Alfred grabbed his keys, ready to leave. "Alfred?"

"Hmm?"

"What happens if... after all of this... at the end of the month it's the same?"

Alfred couldn't meet Matthew's eyes as he pondered the question, so instead he stared at the doorknob his hand was clutched around before finally muttering, "Then I think we'll be over... Attraction... Attraction is something needed in a relationship..."

There was a choking sound coming from where Matthew was standing and Alfred knew his boyfriend was crying again, but he couldn't... not now. He needed to think, needed to understand. And so he pulled open the door and headed out into the hallway and then out of the building all together waving at one of their neighbors as he passed.

No matter what it took... He was going to get Mattie to fall in love with him.

Wait... that sounds cliche, plus Mattie was already in love with him.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm...

No matter what it took... He was going to get Mattie to fall in love with the incredible sexiness that was Alfred. F Jones.

_**AN: Yeah I know this had some pretty sad moments in it... and I have it under Romance/Humor... I promise soon enough I will get you you're humor :3 PROMISE **_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

_Matthew fiddled nervously with his tie, tightening it and loosening it before patting it down and crumpling it up again and again. The reflection he was staring at in the mirror looked nice, face freshly shaven and washed, hair clean and silky his bangs fell slightly into his eyes and that damn curl was sticking up straight in the air. He had put in his contacts so the silver frames of his glasses weren't gracing the top of his nose and at the insistence of his brother had donned a sleek black suit with a red tie._

_It was this red tie he was currently fiddling with of course, in his nervousness._

_Francis, the aforementioned brother, watched in amusement from the doorway of the bathroom. Matthew had been in there for almost an hour now and Alfred was due to arrive to pick him up for their first date, well _ever_, any minute._

_"Ah you look magnifique, do not worry so much Mathieu," Francis laughed and his little brother jumped hands shaking slightly as he lowered them to his sides and finally left his tie alone. "It is ok to be nervous cher."_

_Matthew swallowed thickly turning to meet his brother's eyes, "I'm not nervous..."_

_"Ah... no of course not," Francis chuckled to himself just as several knocks on the door hit their ears. Matthew immediately tensed and turned to look at himself in the mirror patting down his hair like a madman and inspecting his face for any spots or dirt or anything that shouldn't be there. "I shall get it shall I?" Francis asked but didn't wait for a reply as he darted down the stairs and to the front door that he yanked open excitedly, "Bonjour!"_

_Alfred F Jones looked like he was shaking slightly, though it was hard to tell under the suit jacket he was wearing, (at Arthur's insistence though Francis had been the one to persuade Arthur to let the poor boy borrow the suit) one hand was rubbing the back of his neck and the other clutching a single flower. Without even greeting his dates brother in return he twirled the pretty purple flower (the color of Mattie's eyes) in his hand, "He uh... he likes flowers right?" _

_Francis blinked, the question had been so quiet, so nervous that he had barely heard it, but when it finally registered in his mind what Alfred was asking his smile brightened about ten times more than usual and he threw his head back and laughed at how utterly adorable this whole thing was._

_"What's so funny?" A quieter voice than even Alfred's nervous one asked and both men turned to spot Matthew walking down the stairs, looking like he was trying very hard not to trip and make a fool of himself in front of his date._

_Francis opened his mouth to tell him how adorable his date was when Alfred stepped into the house and with very little grace thrust out the flower, biting his lip, "I uh... brought you this..."_

_Matthew's eyes softened at the flower and he took it gently from Alfred a small smile ghosting over his lips as he whispered a quiet thank you, smelling the flower carefully. Alfred's confidence seemed to come back a little at the cute display and he grinned brightly back. Neither of them made any move to leave the house and you know... actually go on their date..._

_Clearing his throat Francis tried to hide his amusement when the boys both blushed and turned to him, "I mean not to intrude, but don't you have reservations to get to?"_

_"Oh right!" Alfred grinned holding out his arm, "I have a car waiting outside for us Mattie!"_

_Tucking the flower behind his ear in a way that made Alfred's heart stutter Matthew linked his arm through Alfred's, "You have your license?"_

_"Ahem... not exactly... I have my learners, working on the license part," Alfred's cheeks colored again, "My brother's driving us, I hope that's ok..."_

_"It's fine."_

_Francis sighed, "Ok you two that is enough of this adorableness! Go go avant que je vous chasser!"_

_Alfred blinked, "What...?"_

_"He said go go before I chase you out," Matthew smiled tugging him forward carefully, "We'll be back Francis."_

_"And I will be waiting my darlings!" Francis called after them as they headed out to where he could see Arthur parked on the side of the road, looking like he very much wanted to leave and go home. He blew the stuck up Englishman a kiss and was pleased when he looked the other way a little flustered. "Have fun exploring the possibilities of l'amour!"_

_But it didn't seem like they were listening to him anymore as Alfred pulled open the car door for Matthew, accidentally smacking himself in the stomach as he did and Matthew giggled, climbing in the car to hide his silly grin from the nervous boy._

_Francis sighed to himself as he wrapped his arms around his own waste. "Ah to be so young and nervous again..." Which really was an odd thing to say since he was only about four years older than Matthew and had just barely gotten out of school himself, but whatever. _

_Watching the car pull away and head off down the street Francis finally shut the door and headed off back into his house to await either the return of his parents who were still at work or Arthur who he hoped would come over and tell him how the car ride went._

_He hoped it was as adorable as the pickup had been._

Alfred sighed, dragging his feet as he walked the distance to his brother's house. It was cold and he had forgotten his gloves back at his and Mattie's apartment but his mind was too clouded to care, like a depressed lover who had just hit a snag, and really that was exactly what he was.

And Matthew was probably crying at home... Fuck, he hadn't thought this through. How was he supposed to get intimacy into their relationship like this?

Kicking a stone angrily Alfred huddled further into his jacket and really tried to concentrate. This was very different from any kind of blockbuster movie he had seen. This wasn't a normal situation at all though was it? If it was normal than Matthew would have said he was unbelievably attracted to him but didn't know if he loved him or not then all he would have to do was prove his love like in the movies. Flowers, long walks on the beach, dancing...

Well maybe he could still do some of those things to try and feel closer to the love of his life, but would any of that change the fact that Matthew wasn't attracted to him?

"Life stinks..." Alfred sighed and looked up just in time to realize he had to cross the road. He looked left and right and then dashed across resuming his sad head bent down position as soon as he wasn't at risking of accidentally walking into traffic.

He was nearing his brother's house now and that was a welcome relief, there he would find hot tea and a comforting sibling and well probably Francis too, but that was fine. Actually that could be great in fact, perhaps the pervy Frenchman had some advice to give him?

As the fairly large two story Victorian styled house loomed nearer (his brother had a very good job, something that had to do with government something or other, he didn't really care) Alfred's hopes began to rise again. There sat outside in the too large for the amount of cars the Brit actually had driveway was a bright red car that belonged to none other than Matthew's beloved older brother.

Running the last few feet to the house Alfred swung the door open, not bothering to knock and quickly bathed in the warmth as he shut the door behind him.

The house was quiet...

"Arthur?" He called flinging off his jacket, "Francis?"

No response.

Alfred cursed, "I swear to god if I walk in on ANOTHER compromising scene today I will be so pissed..."

A shuffling came from down the hallway and Alfred, resolved to his fate, followed it and the strange little sentences that were going along with it.

"Fuck what was that for?"

"You know you like it."

"I do not like it at all! Get it off!"

"Ah but Arthur... it looks so good..."

The kitchen door was slightly ajar and Alfred paled, he really didn't want to see what was going on behind that door. Hesitantly he knocked against the wood, "Um Arthur? Francis?"

All shuffling noises stopped and their voices went quiet for a moment before the shuffling did indeed start up again. Faster this time. "No! Fuck, Alfred do not come in here!"

"Ohohohohohohoh~ Alfred do come in! You will definitely like what you see I assure you!"

"Shut up Frog!"

"Uh guys, I seriously don't think I want to open this door-" Alfred began but was cut off when the door was in fact flung open, almost hitting him in the face, but thankfully he backed up quick enough to avoid the injury. Francis stood there... fully clothed... huh... and beaming at him in a way only the Frenchman could.

"Arthur is baking! He has asked me to help him learn!" He laughed happily and something that looked like an egg whizzed past the both of their heads to smack against the hallway wall behind them.

"Bloody fucking hell you twat why did you have to tell him that!?" Arthur was seething, covered in flour and egg yoke and a bunch of other ingredients that Alfred couldn't identify, "This is so fucking embarrassing..."

"But you look so doux," Francis laughed again stepping back into the kitchen and motioning for Alfred to follow. "Even sweeter than the cake we tried to make."

Arthur fumed, "Shut up..."

The kitchen was a disaster, the same ingredients that were all over Arthur were all over the floor and the table, not to mention the stove and the cupboards and... how did they get chocolate on the ceiling? Oh wow... he really didn't want to know. Though a part of him did wonder why Arthur was totaled and Francis had remained perfectly clean.

Amongst the mess was a sweet smelling cake covered in white icing and curvy blue and purple lines of decorations. Alfred assumed that must have been what they were doing when he came in.

"Nice cake, can I have a slice? Wait... will it kill me?" He asked as he took a seat on what seemed to be the only chair at the table that wasn't coated in something or other, ducking to dodge the egg that was thrown at him. Yeah he was starting to understand why the kitchen was destroyed now...

"No it will not kill you and no you may not have a slice!" Arthur snapped, "I need it for work tomorrow, someone's birthday or something."

"Since when do you care?"

"Since he started to suck up to his boss, oui?" Francis laughed but Arthur didn't throw an egg at him this time... mainly because he had finally ran out.

"Fuck off," He hissed instead at the French Bastard before turning to his younger brother, "What are you even doing here Alfred?"

"Oui and where is my darling Mathieu? Did he not wish to come and visit me?"

"Oh um.." Alfred winced, "He's still home..."

Arthur's fuming face suddenly softened to a look of confusion and concern. He placed a floury hand on his brother's shoulder, ruining his shirt as he did, "Is everything ok?"

Francis, amazingly, was quiet for once.

Alfred shuffled his feet slightly before looking up to glance at them both, "Mattie and I have never had sex before, did you know that?"

Both men looked stunned but it was of course Francis that spoke up first, "Never? B-but you have both been within the hands of l'amour for four years!"

"I know... but we had never gone farther than kissing, Mattie always said he wasn't ready you know, so I waited..."

"Good boy," Arthur nodded patting the shoulder under his hand absentmindedly. "So what's the problem?"

Alfred felt tears well up in his eyes but he blinked them away quickly staring down at the dirty tabletop, "He admitted today that he's... he loves me... but he's not attracted to me..."

Silence met his ears and Alfred wondered if maybe it had been such a good idea to just say it outright like that without explaining everything in great detail to them first...

Meanwhile back at the apartment Matthew was a wreck. No he wasn't crying or masturbating or anything like that. He was just... trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with him.

Curled up into a little ball on his and Alfred's bed with one of Alfred's favorite shirts squeezed tightly between his arms he asked himself over and over what it was that was wrong with him and just couldn't figure it out. Here he had this amazing guy, good looking, funny, sweet and loving and he wasn't attracted to him. There was no flash of excitement when Alfred deepened their kisses, no pooling of blood in his southern regions, no passionate need to have Alfred closer and closer, to feel his skin against his lovers.

Wasn't there supposed to be that need there?

Now Matthew knew if he had explained it like that to his older Brother he would have been met with a sad but knowing,_ "Well it is time to search for someone new... it seems as if your relationship lacks the intimacy of true l'amour."_

But it was so much more complicated than that! Matthew loved Alfred, he really, really did. He wanted the other man's arms wrapped around him at night and he wanted his kisses and he wanted to hear his voice in the morning and he loved everything about the man! Honest.

...

Ok, ok, maybe not everything, there was a few annoying habits that they had learnt about each other after finally moving in together a few months previous, but Alfred was perfect, Matthew was positive that he was the one for him. He had been sure of it for a few years now. So it had been rather... shocking... when Alfred had brought up one day, years ago now, that maybe it was time to bring their relationship to the next level and Matthew had felt-

Absolutely nothing.

Seriously why had Alfred even stayed with him for two years after that? The boy was probably going right out of his little virgin mind, needing to feel the skin of another on his own, but only wanting Matthew, wanting his first to be with the one he truly loved...

Sniffling Matthew pulled the shirt closer and took some comfort in the familiar smell of his boyfriend. What was that anyway? They had been together for four years and he still wasn't sure what they heck Alfred smelled like. It smelled good though either way so he wasn't complaining.

"Life is complicated..." He whispered sadly into the shirt, shivering slightly at how cold the bed felt without Alfred there. And he might not be back in it for a month... Or ever, a little voice in his head reminded him but he refused to think that Alfred may not ever be coming back.

He loved him... he had to come back...

Matthew wasn't sure how long he had sat alone on their bed cuddling a shirt before a pang of loneliness hit him. Alfred was staying with Arthur for the next month but Matthew certainly wasn't going to go and stay with Francis, who would stay and look after the apartment?

And well... as much as he loved his brother he didn't really want Francis to try and give him that same talk that he tried to give him when he was younger and their mother had been too busy to take the time and explain how sex worked to her youngest son. He shuddered at the memory, there was no way he ever wanted to hear Francis talk about sex again. Ever.

So then what was he gonna do...

His eyes fell upon the phone at the bedside table, beside one of Alfred's spare set of glasses. Matthew's lips quirked into a little grin, Alfred had so many extra pairs of glasses it was silly, but he always seemed to find new ways of losing them.

_"Mattie I was reading in the library and they slipped off my nose and landed in the book right as I slammed the book shut!"_

_"Mattie I was feeding the ducks and one of them jumped up and took my glasses and swam away! I hate ducks..."_

_"Mattie my glasses broke because some weird Cuban guy smacked the back of my head and they fell into the street and a car ran over them! Fucking Commie Bastard..."_

His heart ached, he shouldn't be thinking about this. Alfred had some kind of plan, maybe it would fix things between them. Maybe it would help Matthew be attracted to the one he loved, maybe everything would turn out ok. Yeah... But if he kept thinking like this then he was going to call Alfred and beg him to come right back, to let everything go back to normal, and he couldn't do that.

He needed a distraction.

Once again his eyes fell upon the phone and he grabbed it, rolling onto his back to hold it above his face and stare at it as if it was going to give him all his answers.

Suddenly the screen lit up and the familiar _briiiiiiiiiiing _sounded throughout the room. Shocked Matthew dropped the phone and it tumbled onto the floor. Cursing he ran after it hitting the button quickly to answer it, "Hello?"

_"Ciao Mattie!"_

Matthew's lips quirked up into a smile, "Feliciano."

Perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Feliciano Vargas wasn't exactly the brightest pea in the pod. He was an optimist though certainly, always bright and happy and smiling no matter what you told him. Sometimes that made him seem really annoying but his close friends and his brother treasured his company greatly.

Of course... his closest friends consisted of Matthew, the shy and quiet English student, his boyfriend the loud but funny business major and his own boyfriend, Ludwig Beilschmidt, the strict engineering student with pretty blue eyes and strong arms... And ahem... what was he talking about? Oh right, yeah and his brother, but his brother didn't often give off that warm "I'm so glad you're in my life" vibe he got from the others.

But Feliciano was too happy and oblivious to think or care that he only had a handful of friends and a mean, sort of scary, older brother. Life was too wonderful, too spectacular, too pasta filled not to love~!

And that was just the kind of person Matthew needed around now so when Feliciano's cheerful voice greeted his ear over the phone he wasted no time in explaining the basics of the situation to the cheerful Italian and within ten minutes they had worked out arrangements for Feliciano to spend the next month with him in his apartment. Which leads us to where we are now.

"Ve~ Matthew!" Feliciano's voice called from the little kitchen, "I'm making Pasta to cheer you up!"

Matthew cracked a smile as he sat down at the table, slumping down against the wood as he watched his friend dance about the kitchen to find the supplies he needed to make the perfect Pasta. "Thanks Feli... But I'm not all that hungry... Are you sure Ludwig is ok with you staying here for a month?"

"Si, he's fine with it ve~ You must eat before you wither away to bones!" Feliciano looked terrified at the thought, "I don't want to think of your bones as white flags Mattie..."

Matthew shook his head, "That is such a ... weird thing to say."

Feliciano shrugged going back to work with a happy little smile etched into his face, "So, shall you fill me in on the rest of what is wrong during pasta or ~?"

"Hm, what would you prefer Feli?" Matthew sighed hitting his forehead against the table with a dull thunk. The Italian turned at the sound, blinking in confusion at his very sad best friend.

Slowly he set down the spatula that he clutched in his hand and went to sit across the table from Matthew, reaching forward to pat the blond head gently, "I think I would like you to tell me now so I can work on making you smile again..."

Matthew huffed, moving away from Feliciano's gentle touch, "I'm an idiot Feli. I don't want to smile."

Feliciano gasped, "But Mattie, smiling is the very best thing in the world, it makes people happy in a way that only Pasta should and the world becomes a better place and -"

"Ok, ok!" Matthew chuckled, turning his head so his cheek pressed against the cold wood and his eyes could meet his friends, "I get it, you're trying to tell me I deserve to be happy. Thanks-"

"Oh well yeah that too," Feliciano cut him off before he stood to go back to making pasta, "You talk and I'll cook! Ve~"

Matthew stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before shaking his head and launching into the details to give to his weird, but lovable best friend.

_"Ah scusi... Do you know where the art room is?"_

_Matthew's laughter at whatever odd joke his long time boyfriend had just told him died off at the tiny voice coming from his left. He turned, half expecting to find some small child that was looking for an older sibling. He definitely did not expect to see a man the same age as himself, maybe a year or so younger smiling brightly at him and Alfred while clutching onto a map of the campus and a fair amount of art supplies._

_'"Oh um, it's on the floor above this one," He answered nodding towards the staircase, "At the very end of the big hallway."_

_"Mattie I have to go to my Math class," Alfred whispered and Matthew nodded, turning to kiss him quickly before Alfred waved and darted off down the hallway._

_"Ve~ You two are very cute together!"_

_Matthew blushed and turned back to the other man, "Ah, thanks... do you not have a bag to put all that stuff in?"_

_"Ah... no," He shrugged still smiling the little curl on top of his head bouncing in a way similar to Matthew's own, "I just transferred here so I could move to America with my older brother so I haven't gotten all of the necessities yet."_

_Matthew decided not to mention that he could have just used the bag he had most likely used at his last school, he didn't think he wanted to hear the complicated answer, "Well... my class is pretty close to the art room, want me to help you?"_

_"Ah grazie! Yes I would like that very much!" The man's smile brightened and didn't falter even as he and Matthew struggled to move the supplies from his hands to the blonde's. It was rather difficult to do so and not end up with them all landing on the floor, but somehow they managed._

_"So, where was your old school... um..."_

_"Feliciano," The man helped him out, "Ah I was studying art in Venice. It was very beautiful there."_

_"So you're from Italy?"_

_Feliciano nodded, "Born and raised! How about you..?"_

_"Matthew."_

_"Can I call you Mattie?"_

_"Only my boyfriend calls me that..." Matthew shrugged, "But I don't really care."_

_"Ve~ Mattie shall be my new best friend then!" Feliciano laughed happily as they made their way up the stairs towards the art room, turning heads as they did._

_"Um, alright sure. And to answer your question I'm originally from Canada but moved here with my family just before high school."_

_"Was that when you met the cute blond boy downstairs?"_

_Matthew chuckled, "Alfred, and yeah, we started going out halfway through the first year and well," He blushed wishing he had a free hand to rub the back of his neck, "We've been together ever since..."_

_"Aww how sweet!" Feliciano trilled skipping slightly at the info, "I wish I had someone like that in my life."_

_"You're single?"_

_"Sì," He smiled as they neared the large doors belonging to the school's art room. "I have only just moved here after all Mattie."_

_"Yeah but you could have had someone back home," Matthew smiled, "It's not like you're not good looking."_

_"Ve~ Say that around your boyfriend I dare you." The two of them laughed and Feliciano made to push the doors open with his hip when suddenly the doors swung open from the inside and instead of hitting cool wood his hip thudded into something warm and soft._

_The man he had just hip checked let out a low grunt of pain when the hip hit his gut and Feliciano gasped as a very tall, blond and muscular man glared down at him, "What was that for?"_

_Feliciano squeaked, smile actually falling away from his face as he shivered in fear, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you, please, please don't hurt me!" He actually looked close to tears and the tall blond blinked, anger fading away to glance from the hysterical Italian to Matthew who looked just as bewildered._

_"Uh... it's fine I'm not going to hurt you," The blond said stepping out of their way, "It was an accident after all..."_

_Immediately Feliciano brightened up, "Grazie! I am sorry though, I won't let it happen again!"_

_The blond grumbled something under his breath before nodding curtly to the two of them and heading off down the hallway. Feliciano's eyes followed him in innocent curiosity and interest. "Got eyes for an engineer Feli?"_

_"Feli?"_

_Matthew shrugged, "You want to call me Mattie, I think I have the right to call you Feli."_

_Feliciano burst into happy laughter as they finally entered the art room, "Si, that is alright. Do you know him?"_

_"Yeah, that's Ludwig Beilschmidt. I think him and Alfred have math together."_

_Nodding Feliciano and Matthew started dumping his art supplies at an empty desk, "Hey Mattie?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"I'm not going to be single much longer, ve~"_

_If you asked Matthew today he would tell you that the funniest thing he had ever seen was honestly the night Feliciano actually did go up to Ludwig and ask him out. The look on the larger man's face had been priceless paired with the oblivious Italian that was smiling up at him brightly holding out a little flower (Alfred's suggestion, "Hey it had worked with Mattie!") had just been perfect._

_They were very cute together._

"The guest room is ok is it?"

Alfred sighed, "I can't believe you've been letting Francis sleep in the room usually reserved for me. Why aren't you just letting him sleep in your bed? He obviously wants to."

Arthur scoffed at him, "Because that frog is not getting anywhere near me when I am not completely covered."

"Are you trying to tell me you sleep naked?"

"W-what!? No!" Arthur choked and Alfred cackled as he began to toss some of the large amount of pillows that were on the guest bed to the floor, his brother leaning against the doorway watching him silently. "Honestly why you would immediately come to that conclusion..."

"What conclusion ma fleur?" Francis suddenly poked his head into the room, smiling brilliantly even after the afternoon they had discussing Alfred's predicament with Matthew.

Arthur scowled, "Nothing, go to bed."

"I was waiting for you to join me," The Frenchman pouted and Alfred smirked at his brother, waggling his eyebrows as the older man shoved Francis away from him harshly. "Don't be so cruel Arthur..."

"I will not be sleeping with you!"

"Ah but you do not mean that~"

"I'm pretty bloody sure I mean that!"

"Will you guys just go and fuck already, I'm tired and if I can't get any from the one I love than somebody should at least get something," Alfred sighed crawling up onto the bed and under the covers. The silence that followed was sickening as Francis and Arthur stared at him sympathetically. "I don't need your pity!" He snapped but the two only shook their heads.

"We'll help you plan something out tomorrow then. Francis is giddy to help you and I'm sure we can find something on the inter-webs that could help," Arthur walked over to sit on the edge of the bed and like he used to do when Alfred was little, tucked him in tightly.

"Bah the internet will be of little use when you have me helping you anyway," Francis laughed winking from the doorway, "We will have the love of your life back in your arms Alfred, do not worry."

Alfred winced and closed his eyes, "Yeah... easy for you to say, you're whole relationship isn't on the line. And fuck, what am I supposed to do about my confidence now?"

"I admit him not finding you attractive must have felt like a low blow but you can pull back from that, there must have been others that have -"

"I'm a virgin Arthur."

The Brit blinked, "Ah right... Well we'll figure something out alright? You're not alone in this Alfred."

"Oui, and if worse comes to worse you could always find a little sexy thing to tell you you are sexy to gain your confidence back, ohohohohoh~" Francis looked only too delighted at the idea but Alfred stared blankly at him.

"Did you seriously just tell me to cheat on your brother?"

The look fell from the Frenchman's face, "Ah... non, let's not bring that up again, oui?"

"Idiot," Arthur sighed pinching the bridge of his nose before standing, "Rest up and we'll start tomorrow alright? You probably don't want to wait too long with the time limit you've placed on yourself after all..."

Alfred groaned hitting his head back against his pillow, "Another stupid mistake..."

The two older men frowned at him before Arthur lent down and kissed his brother's forehead, "It will be ok... Go to sleep alright?"

When the other nodded Arthur straightened back up and made his way out of the room, shutting the light off as he did. Francis followed, neither saying anything to the other and when Francis tried to follow Arthur into the master bedroom the fight had been completely silent in fear of possibly waking up the depressed boy down the hall. Finally with a huff Arthur stepped aside and allowed the Frenchman into his room. But Francis' joy didn't last long for once he was done stripping to his boxers and climbing under the covers Arthur muttered something about sleeping in the other room and shut the door behind him, leaving Francis in the dark all alone.

Francis scowled disappointingly, "Prude..."

Alfred stayed awake half the night wondering why his left side felt so cold and refusing to think it might be because there wasn't an adorable Canadian slumbering on the empty side of the large bed. A million plans were running through his head, he had little time, there had to be something he could do... he would do anything, anything at all for his Matthew.

Sighing he rolled over, facing the empty side of the bed and reaching out to trace where Matthew should have been. "Why is love so fucking complicated?"

Back at Alfred and Matthew's apartment Feliciano was sprawled out on Alfred's side of the bed, snoring softly and causing the little curl to flutter above his forehead. Matthew watched him for awhile, feeling a little weird that it wasn't his long time boyfriend there instead, but at least he had managed to convince Feliciano to not sleep completely naked...

Shaking his head he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Knowing Alfred he would start trying something to save the situation as soon as possible, he was Matthew's hero after all and he was going to try, try his absolute hardest to help as well. After ranting to Feliciano over Pasta and wine the two of them had come to the conclusion that either Matthew was just not interested in Alfred that way and they would have to move on, or he just hadn't found the thing yet that would make him want Alfred.

They had been together for a very long time but their relationship had always been perfect, no fights, no bumps, just smooth sailing, _"I really don't think Love is supposed to be so smooth,"_ Feliciano had stated at dinner, _"The hardships in love only make the lovers closer, ve, perhaps this was supposed to happen!"_

"Please let him be right..." Matthew whispered into the darkness, closing his eyes when he felt them water without his permission, "Alfred..."

And at that exact same time, about twenty minutes away Alfred whispered Matthew's name into the darkness of his room, wishing that he would get an answer and crying softly when he remembered he wouldn't.

The next morning Alfred had to force himself out of bed and down to the kitchen where he could smell something meaty and delicious wafting through the house.

"Morning," He mumbled to his brother at the table with the newspaper and Francis at the stove cooking bacon and eggs from the looks of it, both returned the greeting before going back to what they were doing.

Breakfast was a pretty quiet affair, the three of them lost in their own thoughts as they ate, though Arthur did sulk about how if he wanted he could cook just as well as the French Frog once before falling back into silence. Finally Alfred couldn't take it anymore and set down his fork.

"What am I going to do?" He asked them and Francis smiled warmly at him.

"A Miracle mon cher. You will have to pull off a miracle."

"Don't make it sound impossible you prick," Arthur snapped smacking the back of Francis' hand with his fork and splattering some egg on his cheek as he did. Francis looked horrified at the food touching his skin but Arthur ignored him to turn to Alfred, "I looked up a few things on Google this morning-"

"Whoa you know how to use Google?"

"What - Of course I know how to use Google you twat! How fucking old do you think I am!" Arthur seethed and Alfred laughed slightly. Without the loud obnoxious laughter he was used to Arthur's anger vanished quickly and he sighed, "Anyway, I did some research, it's still up on my laptop in the den if you want to look it over."

Alfred nodded, "Thanks, I'll do that now and maybe go see Mattie this afternoon."

Francis shook his head, "Non, he needs a day away from you. Research today and act tomorrow perhaps."

"But Francis..." Alfred slumped against his chair, "I only have a month..."

"Attraction takes only a second to appear, you just need to find what Mathieu is attracted to. You have time," Francis smiled and then stood, "However, I do believe I must go visit him, he will be needing his le grand frère for comfort. Perhaps I will pick up something to help you as well?" He laughed and then swooped down to kiss Arthur's cheek. "I will be back ma fleur."

Arthur went red, "I don't care if you ever come back ever you fucking frog! And stop calling me your flower goddammit!"

Alfred sighed, tuning them out and heading off into the den where Arthur's laptop was indeed sitting on the coffee table by the couch, an article was already pulled up entitled,_ "4 Key things that make you attractive."_

Resolved to whatever was going to happen next Alfred sat down, pulling the laptop onto his, well, lap and beginning to read. Thank god he didn't have classes...


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

**4 key things that make you attractive...**

**1. Making an Effort With Your Appearance**

**2. Personal Positivity**

**3. Security**

**4. Really Being Yourself**

**(It's not attractive when you place the responsibility for your happiness on one person and derive it solely from them.)**

"Are you finding the article helpful?"

"WAH!" Alfred jumped, managing to just barely catch the laptop before it slipped from his legs and onto the floor. He turned to glare at his brother who was leaning against the back of the couch he was sitting on, "Don't do that!"

Arthur merely blinked blankly at him, "You've been reading for a few hours now. Have you found anything helpful?" He repeated.

Alfred sighed, settling back into the couch and roaming his eyes over the article once more. "A few things I guess... I just have to figure out which of these four things is missing from mine and Mattie's relationship I guess."

"Hm," Arthur rounded the couch taking a seat next to his brother, "Let me take a look will you?"

He leant closer and Alfred pulled away slightly, "I dunno... I think Francis could help me better with this."

"Well he's not fucking here is he?" Arthur snapped and Alfred relinquished the laptop to it's rightful owner quickly. Arthur read it over carefully occasionally nodding to himself when he found something that seemed like a particularly true statement. Getting nervous and feeling slightly awkward Alfred began to fidget.

"See what I mean," He began trying to ease himself, "It's nothing like me and Mattie, we've always had this perfect relationship," Arthur shot him a look, "We've never fought, we've never argued, we're always together, always happy..." He trailed off then when Arthur's look hadn't gone away. "What?"

Arthur shook his head, "I just find it interesting that even after being told he wasn't attracted to you you seem to think your relationship is perfect."

"It is perfect! We're just... on a little bump-"

"Open your eyes Alfred!" Arthur snapped quieting his brother and breathing deeply to try and make sure he didn't go over the edge with his temper, it was a delicate topic after all, "No matter how perfect your relationship might have seemed to you there was obviously a big flaw in it. Something that was holding you both back, it might even have been something that was making Matthew feel very unhappy and uninterested in you in effect! This list is offering you a wonderful chance to peer deeper into your relationship and see if there is anything you need to fix within yourself. Once you do that you can peer further and maybe even ask Matthew if he would be willing to make changes for you as well. I understand that you are in suffering, from heartbreak or whatever, but you have to grow the fuck up," He growled pinching the bridge of his nose harshly so he wouldn't start yelling or pacing or anything else that might upset Alfred, "You are not in high school anymore. You are an adult now, that means that the relationship you have with Matthew isn't as innocent as it used to be. Open your fucking eyes and see that not everything is perfect. It's still good, it's still love, but it's different now, get used to it."

There was a long pause where Arthur kept his eyes shut tight and Alfred dared not breathe a word as he let each harsh word sink into his system. The air was thick with tension.

And then Arthur heard a sniffle and his eyes flew open just in time to see a grown man rub under his glasses harshly to stop the tears, his shoulders shaking with the contained sobs. "Oh bloody hell you idiot," Arthur sighed, setting his laptop back on the coffee table and wrapping his arm around the shaking shoulders of his brother. Alfred's head immediately fell to his shoulder and he curled into a ball against his side, clutching Arthur's shirt with all his might. "That's it... Let it all out," Arthur hummed lightly, patting his back as he did.

The two of them sat like that for awhile, but Arthur made no move to apologize this time as he had done so many times when Alfred got like this when they were younger. This time, unlike all the times they had argued over trucks and superhero's, he was right.

It was around twenty minutes later, when Alfred was half asleep through his tears and Arthur had gone from patting his back to cradling him in his arms (which were quickly falling asleep) when he decided that enough was enough.

"Alright," He groaned shifting his arm so Alfred was jostled, "Get off before you fall asleep on me," Alfred whined but slipped away from his brother to settle against the corner of the couch, "Shall we begin to peer into your relationship then?"

"S-sure..."

Arthur frowned, "You sound nervous."

"Well why don't you take a deep look into something you love to find possible fatal problems within it," Alfred snapped and Arthur smiled sadly at him.

"It's for the best."

Alfred just stared at his hands in his lap, obviously pondering something over. For a few minutes Arthur fiddled with his fingers, allowing him to think.

Finally, still staring at his hands, he spoke up.

"So what's the first one?"

"Oh," Arthur bent forward to click away the screensaver on his laptop, "The first one is... Putting effort into your appearance."

Alfred scowled, "What's wrong with how I look?"

There was another silent moment where the two of them glanced down at the ragged old t-shirt with the words "Who's your hero?" fading away and the grey sweatpants that were practically falling off his hips. Alfred groaned, running a hand through his hair and wincing when it felt greasy.

"Alright, alright I look like shit today and I probably haven't been paying too close attention to how I look around Mattie either..." He pouted, "But he doesn't care about how I look, he loves me for me!"

Arthur clicked his tongue scrolling down the article for advice, "But maybe he's not attracted to you because you're not paying enough attention to these things?"

"I hate you..."

"I'm only helping."

Alfred sighed hitting his head against the back of the couch, "Fine, what do I do first?"

"Well... I think you might want to start with taking a shower."

_"Alfred?"_

_Alfred blinked looking over his shoulder at his boyfriend who was staring at their shared living room with a look of horror and disgust etched into his handsome features. "Yeah Mattie?"_

_"Is that... I thought... how?"_

_He blinked again glancing around him, spilled popcorn on the floor, a few items of dirty laundry, dvds scattered across the room as well as a few McDonald's wrappers. "Oh, you mean the mess?" Matthew nodded wordlessly and Alfred shrugged, "I had no classes and no work today, I thought I would relax. I'll clean it tomorrow though."_

_Matthew just stared at him, "You're serious?"_

_"Yeah..."_

_Matthew stepped forward but then his nose wrinkled in distaste and he stepped back again, "Have you... have you showered recently?"_

_"Hm?" Alfred's mind was once again on the tv screen in front of him and Matthew gave up, wandering into their bedroom to dump his stuff. Alfred was just a man's man, that was all. He didn't shower every day, didn't always care if his clothes were perfectly clean. Most of the time it didn't bother Matthew, but it was kinda weird that Alfred hid himself behind this wall of... dirt, and sweat and stink... It's not like he was bad looking, just uncaring._

_He had gotten better since dating Matthew according to Francis who had learnt everything from Arthur but all Matthew can remember is the neat and sparkly and clean Alfred that had taken him out on that first date. At least he started showering a bit more regularly after that incident._

_Alfred had so much to offer after all, but after a few more weeks Matthew got used to it and forgot about it all together._

_After all he loved Alfred. A few annoying qualities about him didn't make a difference._

_Right?_

Matthew woke slowly to the light that was pouring in through his window. There was rustling coming from somewhere else in the apartment and a strong scent of coffee drifting through the door to caress his nose. Smiling into his pillow he rolled over, expecting to hit into something warm and strong and ultimately Alfred, but ended up rolling off the bed in his efforts.

"Ah, maple!" He oofed when he hit the ground, nose squashed against the floor and throbbing painfully as his sleep addled brain tried to piece together why Alfred hadn't been there to break his fall. It's only... what... Tuesday? Alfred doesn't have classes on Tuesdays... But I do... "Holy Hockey why didn't my alarm clock go off!?" He shouted then, scrambling to his feet and almost stumbling back down to the floor when his foot got caught in the blanket. Somehow he managed to make it across the hall to the bathroom where he shut himself in for a quick piss and a faster then hell face wash/teeth brushing before he ran back to his room to try and search for clothes.

"Ve~"

Feliciano was sat atop his bed, fully dressed and holding a cup of coffee in one hand as he watched Matthew stumble in from the bathroom and suddenly it all came flooding back. The call, the tears the possibility that - He choked and tripped over his own feet, just barely managing to stay on his feet, "A-Alfred...?"

Feliciano's smile was one of sympathy as he stood to give Matthew the coffee, carefully moving him so he was sat back on the bed, "I called your teachers, you're excused from classes today."

"Why?" Matthew shook his head, fingers trembling against the coffee cup, "I need to go to classes, I need to feel like something in my life is still a little bit normal."

Feliciano's smile turned bitter, "But it's not. And your brother is on his way, he just called, so get dressed and I'll heat up some leftover pasta~"

A weak little 'thank you' slipped from Matthew's lips, but he made no move to get up, just stared into his coffee cup. Sighing Feliciano headed out of the room to heat up the pasta in the fridge that they hadn't gotten to yesterday. Matthew had cried the night before for some time, confessing all of his worries and fears of losing Alfred to Feliciano and Feliciano alone, so the young Italian doubted there would be too many tears today. Even if the guest Matthew was expecting next was his brother.

"Ve~ The sun will come back," Feliciano hummed as he stuck the pasta into the microwave, "The sun will come back and chase dark clouds away~"

By the time he had the pasta separated into two bowls and steaming in a way that was making his mouth water, Matthew had finished dressing himself in a pair of jeans and his favorite old Canadian hoodie and had finally ambled out from his bedroom. Looking more awake and slightly less like a depressed zombie, though there was still a sad look in his eyes as he took his seat and dug into the pasta without a word.

"Mattie your brother said he would be here very soon, did you want me to leave while he visits?" Feliciano asked as he took his own seat and Matthew's fork paused halfway back to his mouth.

"Um..." His brow furrowed, "Don't you have classes anyway?"

"No, I called my teachers for today as well, we will both have to go back tomorrow though," Feliciano grinned, "So we best make the best of today, ve~"

Matthew's lips quirked slightly before he took another bite, chewing slowly and thoughtfully, did he want Feli to stay the entire day? "Well... I don't want to burden you Feli, so maybe... maybe you can go visit Ludwig while Francis visits and then come back?"

Feliciano positively glowed happiness at the suggestion, "Ve~ Luddy should be done of all his classes for today in just a little over an hour and he would be so glad to see me! Grazie Mattie, I will leave as soon as your big brother arrives."

"Alright," Matthew smiled and they finished the rest of their pasta in silence. It was around the time Matthew was gathering their dishes to put into his sink that three sharp knocks sounded on the door.

"Bonjour, grand frère est ici Mathieu! Ouvrez-le!" Francis' voice followed and Matthew headed over to the door with Feliciano trailing after him.

"Say it in English first!" Feliciano cried out before Matthew could open the door laughing when the Frenchman replied with a curt, "Coming from the little italien..."

Matthew shook his head, pulling the door open to greet his brother, "Bonjour Francis."

"Bonjour Mathieu!" Francis beamed, "I suggest you get your coat, I am taking you for a walk mon frère."

"Sure..." Matthew stepped backwards a bit to grab his coat and stuff his feet into a pair of sneakers. "I'll see you later alright Feli?"

"Si, I will be back before dark Mattie! Ve~" Feliciano waved them off, watching them until he could barely see them down the road before he grabbed Matthew's spare key, bundled up and locked the door after him before running in the opposite direction where his boyfriend would be finishing up with some kind of fancy engineering project for the day.

He hoped he was covered in grease again.

They had had _fun_ last time Ludwig had managed to get himself covered in grease...

Francis and Matthew walked side by side with their hands shoved deep into the pockets of their jackets, for a while neither of them said anything. Just walked, enjoying the silence. They passed by several little shops, a church and a convenience store before arriving at an old worn down park a good thirty to forty minutes away from Matthew's and Alfred's apartment. Francis motioned for his little brother to follow him and the two headed off towards the old crickety swing set. It was here that they settled down to have their chat.

"So..." Francis began, watching as his brother toed circles into the cold dirt below them, "Would you like to tell me what's going on?"

Matthew winced, not looking up to meet his brother's eyes, "Anything specifically you want to know...?"

"Ah mon frère... I know you must think it difficult to talk to me about this situation as I am such an expert of l'amour, but you must know you can talk with me about anything, spill your thoughts."

Matthew glanced over at his brother warily, but found only comforting and supportive blue eyes staring back at him, waiting. He sighed, closing his head and turning his head back, "I don't know what's happening Francis. It's not that I don't want to have sex. I mean I.. I uh.."

"Masturbate?" Francis supplied helpfully and Matthew's cheeks colored from something that was definitely not the icy wind.

"Uh... yeah," He swallowed thickly, "I've just never thought about doing it with Alfred. There was never anything in my head that made me want to jump him. So I don't know what to do," His voice cracked and he quickly stopped talking, clasping his hands together in his lap to stop them from shaking.

Francis watched him for a moment sadly before sighing and beginning to kick at the ground to move the swing. "You know..." He started as he gained momentum with each kick, beginning to swing higher and higher from the ground, "Alfred and Arthur are doing research right now, to try and see if there's something they can do to fix this problem."

Matthew's head shot up to watch his brother, "R-really? Have they found anything?"

"Non..." Matthew's hope filled eyes wilted and Francis continued quickly, "But this is Arthur here, the man is highly intelligent, he will figure out a few different plans. I have also agreed to add my own input as well. Between the three of us I think something miraculous could happen." He smiled down at Matthew before his swing flew backwards again and then forward, back and forth, his long blond hair so alike to Matthew's own flying every which way as he swung.

For a few minutes Matthew just watched him, remembering parks from their childhood and laughing children all around them, back when there were no problems and no relationships. Just brothers having fun together.

Hesitating only a second Matthew kicked off his own swing, pumping his legs as strongly as he could to try and catch up to the height Francis had already reached. His older brother laughed happily when he joined him and then Matthew started laughing as well and then it was just them, brother and brother, laughing in their own little world of light and love and hope.

It was much much later when the two of them were walking home when Matthew brought up the subject that everyone was just dying to hear about.

"So how are things going with Arthur anyway?"

"Ohohohohoh~" Francis chuckled, winking slyly at his brother, "The plan is in full swing, as it always is. He is just very stubborn and refuses to acknowledge that he has feelings for me."

"Have you acknowledged that you have feelings for him yet though?" Matthew chuckled and Francis, for the first time in his life, had no words so Matthew continued. "I mean it's obvious that you really like him, but I think it might be even more than that. The two of you are always fighting when you're together, but you keep going to visit each other and call each other to check up on how things are going. I think it's something pretty special you have there Francis."

Francis gaped at his brother for a moment before clearing his throat and turning to stare at the sidewalk beneath them, "Well I... I haven't been thinking quite beyond sex... Not once have I considered the possibility of l'amour."

"Is that what it is?" Matthew smiled at him, "Do you love him?"

"I... Non," Francis shook his head, "I have no time to think of this, we are too busy making sure you get your amour back."

"I'm just saying..." Matthew shrugged, "You can focus on both. Just don't lose him like I lost mine."

Francis glanced over at his brother, "Hey," He whispered, smiling brightly when Matthew met his eyes, "You haven't lost him yet."

Matthew laughed, "Yeah... _yet._.."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"So why are you here exactly?"

Feliciano blinked, jolting out of the daydream he was having and meeting the brilliant ice blue eyes of his boyfriend who was wiping the grease off his hands with an even greasier rag. "Uhm... what?" He muttered back absentmindedly. There was a slick sheen of sweat on Ludwig's body, making his skin look shiny and the neck of his wife beater damp, it was very distracting... especially when paired off with the very noticeable biceps and the chest muscles that Feliciano knew he would be able to see if he was only permitted to peel away that wife beater and glimpse the skin underneath -

"I asked you why you were here," Ludwig's voice was snappish, making his statement more of an order, but his eyes were soft and filled with amusement as his boyfriend's eyes finally left his torso and focused on his face. "You've been sitting on the hood of that car waiting for me to finish for a half an hour, weren't you supposed to be with Matthew?"

"Oh that," Feliciano smiled and started swinging his legs happily, "His older brother took him out today to try to cheer him up and talk game with him I guess."

"Game?"

Feliciano nodded, "You know like, discuss what Matthew has to do since Alfred is doing so much, or at least I hope that's what they're discussing..."

Ludwig sighed, tossing the dirtied rag into the tool box at his side before heading over to the other car Feliciano was on top of, "Honestly Feli... I think they both just need to take their mind off each other. A break might not be so bad for them, they're always together after all."

"But... so are we Ludwig, ve~" Feliciano giggled, wrapping his arms around Ludwig's neck once his boyfriend was close enough; Ludwig's palms went to rest on the hood of the car next to Feliciano's hips, locking him between his arms, "And we're not having these kinds of problems."

Ludwig's lips twitched up into a light smile, "Ja... but we haven't been going out as long as they have. And we've relieved a lot more tension as well..."

"Mmm... you are such a wonderful grease monkey..." Feliciano whispered rubbing his nose against Ludwig's smearing the grease that was there onto both of Ludwig's cheeks and his own nose. "We should do something. I have the rest of the day free!"

"I could take you to dinner, we haven't been on a real date in awhile," Ludwig smiled, "Any place you want."

"Oh that new Italian restaurant that opened up downtown!"

"... You want pasta?"

"Pasta!~" Was Feliciano's chirp of approval, but before he could continue Ludwig quickly attached their lips together, silencing him. They kissed slowly, their lips sliding against each other's familiarly as Feliciano's arms tightened slightly around his boyfriend. He sighed when Ludwig pulled away muttering a little 'Ve~' as he did and Ludwig chuckled.

"Fine we shall go get pasta." He pulled back from Feliciano offering his hand to the smaller man to help him down from the hood of the car. "Come to think of it, your brother, doesn't he work at that new restaurant?"

Feliciano shook his head, sliding from the hood easily but using the offered hand to steady himself when he touched the ground, "He wants to, but they're not hiring right now. Ve~ We should invite him and Antonio! We can have a double date!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes as they headed out of the University's shop but went along with it, if only because the smile Feliciano was giving him was too irresistible not to give in to. "Ja fine."

"Yay!" And Feliciano whipped out his cell phone, pushing a few buttons before placing the phone over his ear. There was only a brief moment of silence before he was chattering away in Italian, the conversation was of course very quick and the next thing Ludwig knew he was snapping the phone shut and smiling at him widely, "They said they would meet us there in a half an hour."

"Wait, what!?" Ludwig tensed glancing down at himself, "But Feli I have to at least shower-"

"So? Your apartment is just over there, you rush through your shower and then we run to the restaurant, we'll be right on time!" Feliciano grinned and then dashed forward, racing against time and laughing all the way.

"You dummkopf! Wait for me!" Ludwig yelled after him before breaking into a sprint. His boyfriend was absolutely crazy. What kind of person would find enjoyment in racing against time like this? It was silly, unnecessary, stressful.

And so much fun...

-\-/-\-/-\-/-

"Is that Feliciano and Ludwig running like maniacs over there?" Alfred questioned, furrowing his brow and dragging his feet as Arthur dragged him towards the library. "I don't think I've ever seen Ludwig run like that... he looks like he's having fun though."

"Who cares, would you move your damn feet already?" Arthur grummbled giving his younger brother's wrist an almighty tug and practically growling when Alfred dug his heels into the pavement.

"I don't wanna go to some dusty old library!" He whined, jutting out his lower lip pathetically as the large building loomed closer. "Can't we go to the arcade instead? That will help me take my mind off things much better than dusty books."

"Are you an infant? I have to drop off a few books and then take out a few more, it will take all of ten minutes!" Arthur rolled his eyes pulling harder, "Honestly Alfred, it wouldn't kill you to enter a library."

"Learning is for losers."

"Says the University student..."

"Nobody's perfect."

Arthur sighed, rubbing the side of his head gently as he felt a headache threatening to come on. "You are... so idiotic."

"Nu uh I'm loveable!" Alfred chirped, finally picking up the pace and allowing his brother to drag him into the library. "You know you love me Artie, I'm your favorite brother."

"You're my only brother you twit."

"So?"

Deciding it would probably be best to ignore Alfred for the moment Arthur shuffled around in his bag to pull out four leather bound books with the Library's stamp on them and then tossed them into the return bin before leading his brother off towards the back of the library. Alfred glanced around at the large books entitled with even bigger words and languages he didn't understand, wondering absentmindedly why his brother would have any interest in any of them. It wasn't like Arthur was that smart right?

True to his word ten minutes later Arthur had pulled down several more pretty leather bound books with the library stamps and was headed over to the counter to check them out, instructing Alfred to wait for him at the doors.

With his hands stuffed into his pockets Alfred walked back and forth among the romance novels and dvd's and news clippings and other such nonsense instead. Pausing every now and then to get a closer look at a more interesting title. But really there was nothing that was catching his eye at all. He glanced over his shoulder at his brother, still standing in a great big line at the counter. Geeze, how many people were really that interested in books? Alfred shook his head and headed off towards the opposite end of the library. A lot of people were sitting and chatting or doing work about the library. It seemed to be a rather popular place, which really didn't make sense to Alfred at all but he rolled with it as he strolled through a few of the aisles of books. He passed by Mystery and Children's Literature as well as Science Fiction and Horror before he finally came upon Historical.

"There really is nothing interesting in Libraries is there?" He muttered to himself as he ran his thumb over the spines of the books, "History of the World, History of Religion, History of Nations, blah blah blah who cares."

He sighed, preparing to turn back when the sounds of shuffling came from the other end of the aisle. Alfred frowned, he had traveled so far back in the large building at this point that he couldn't even hear the hussle and bussle and chatting of people anymore. Who on earth would be back here of all places?

_"Oooooh yes... right there..."_

Oh. It was just some woman apparently.

...

_Oh._

Someone was getting kinky in a public place... A whimper and the harsh pant of a woman met his ears then and Alfred had to stifle a giggle as he got to his knees on the floor and pressed his ears against the book spines to try and hear better.

_"Oh fuck, yes, yes, you're wonderful Jack, wonderful, just... keep... doing... ooooooooh."_

_"You like that baby doll?"_

_"Yes, yes, yes! Please, more, I need more..."_

_"Heh, I think I love you even more when you're attracted to me enough to do this here oh fuck! That's good... Ugh..."_

Alfred, who had been biting into his hand to stop himself from laughing frowned suddenly. 'Attracted huh?' he thought to himself. 'Why is this guy so attractive?' And before he had really stopped and thought about what he was doing he was tugging books away from the shelf, setting them beside him on the floor until he had removed enough books to be able to see the couple rutting against the bookshelf opposite. A tanned and dimpled ass was what greeted him first, the skin wiggling oddly as the man pounded in and out of the girl beneath him. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, long and smooth and so womanly. But Alfred wasn't trying to be a peeping tom, (and if he was, really, all he could see from his position was legs and ass) so he cleared his throat loudly. "Excuse me? Loud and obviously hormonal couple?"

The girl screamed and the guy cursed, pulling out of the girl and spinning around to reveal a very thick and hard erection wet with the juices of his lover and a very angry pair of green eyes. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

The girl, a little blond thing it seemed with pretty brown eyes, wrapped her arms around herself, trying to close up the shirt that had been partially ripped open after her jacket had been thrown off. Alfred ignored the guy in favour of voicing his question to her (and not having to look at that horribly distracting and very red erection...)

"Why are you attracted to this guy?"

The girl blinked, staring with wide eyes at Alfred and then glancing back at her lover and then once more back at Alfred. She repeated this turn of her head several times before finally shrugging and answering honestly, "I dunno, I just do? It sort of just happens when the time is right I guess."

Alfred nodded, "Do you find me attractive? I mean because my boyfriend told me he wasn't attracted to me and I'm trying to figure out what I should do about that to win his heart you know?"

The girl's eyes brightened, "That's so sweet! You must really love him!"

Meanwhile the painfully erect male just kinda gaped at them, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Hush Jack, I'm talking to... um..."

"Alfred."

"I'm talking to Alfred, it'll only take a minute and then you can continue." The girl shifted so she could lie on her stomach in front of the gap in the books that Alfred had made and smiled widely at him, "So the time just hasn't been right for him yet?"

Alfred shook his head, also shifting into a comfortable position on his own side of the bookshelf. "He just has never felt that way towards me specifically you know?"

The girl hummed in thought, "Yeah I kinda get it. What are you thinking of doing about it? And what is he doing? And how long have you two been dating and -"

Jack sighed, taking a seat against the other bookshelf and smacking his head into his palms. Why did the weirdest people have to live in this town?

Arthur found them twenty minutes later.

"Alfred what in the bloody hell are you doing? Oh. Uh, hello there miss... You seem to be a bit... under dressed..." He colored greatly for even through the little gap Alfred had made it was easy to make out the cleavage and the not completely buttoned up shirt.

"Oh that's alright," She laughed smiling at the new comer, "I was just having library sex with my boyfriend so he could check it off his list."

Alfred's grin only widened, "He has a list? Oh that's fantastic! I need to make one of those..."

Arthur's cheeks reddened, "Yes well, it might be best to make one _after_ you and Matthew successfully work out your problems. Now get up off the floor Alfred and leave the, er, lovely couple to what they were doing before you interrupted..." He coughed to cover the embarrassment of having said that but Alfred and the girl were laughing and shaking hands as a farewell.

"Thanks for all your help!"

"Oh it was my pleasure! I hope everything turns out alright for you and your man!"

Alfred chuckled, "I can keep you posted if you maybe want to exchange like email addresses or something-"

"Ok that's quite enough!" Arthur cut in, grabbing his younger brother by the collar and beginning to haul him quickly away from the couple. "It was nice meeting you young lady..."

"The pleasure was mine! Oh and Alfred my name is Melody! Look me up on facebook K?" She yelled after them only giggling when Alfred waved dramatically to let her know he heard. Arthur truly wished he could just die of embarrassment in that moment.

"I hope her advice was really worth it you moronic twat..." He hissed as they left the library and he deemed it safe enough to finally let him go.

"I think I did!" Alfred grinned brightly, "A few things to 'start' the attraction process Melody said and then a few tips on how to talk it out or something girly like that."

Arthur let out a sigh of relief, "Well that's not so bad then."

"Yeah, but I may need your help with a few things..."

"... Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Alfred began to whistle as he quickened his pace slightly.

"Alfred?" Arthur tried again but this time Alfred quickened his pace even further leaving his brother to have to run to catch him. Panic began to settle in. "I'm not going to fucking like this am I...?"

-\-/-\-/-\-/-

Ludwig was not at all used to his boyfriend's brother, which was probably why he wasn't all too keen on having a double date with him. But nonetheless after a very pleasing shower that may have lasted a little longer than it was supposed to... *CoughFelicanoCoughSlipperyCo ughWetCoughDoTheFuckingMathC oughCoughCough* Ludwig did find himself seated next to Feliciano in a little booth in the corner of the Pasta restaurant and sat across from Lovino and Antonio.

None of them were speaking at the moment...

Lovino had gone absolutely livid when his younger brother had rushed in with the handsome blonde man almost five whole minutes late. He had demanded to know why they looked so winded, not accepting their excuse of having run the entire way from Ludwig's apartment.

"You slept with that potato bastard didn't you! Didn't you! Why Feli why would you do that!" He had screamed, trying to get at Ludwig to knock the daylights out of him at the same time, though Antonio had held him back, "I hate you so much! How could you deflower my fratello eh?!"

To which Feliciano had muttered something that sounded like, "He wasn't exactly my first..."

But Ludwig decided he really didn't want to know and would rather remain in peaceful oblivion to the fact that someone might have touched his Feliciano before him.

It wasn't a nice thought to have.

And besides, right now he was too distracted by the tense silence around their table as they awaited their waiter to come and take their orders. They had been deposited into the booth by a cheerful bouncer, or door girl, or whatever she was called, who had also given them their menu's but there was still no sign of the man that would actually bring them their food. And there were only so many times Ludwig could read and re-read the menu for a simple Pasta restaurant...

"Ve~ Luddy, we should share a plate between us," Feliciano whispered suddenly as he lent towards his boyfriend happily oblivious to his furious older brother, "Wouldn't that be romantic?'

"Uh..." Ludwig glanced quickly over at Lovino who seemed to be sharpening his knife with his fork and gulped, "Actually Feli I think I will just get a bread platter and a baked potato for myself and you can get whatever you want."

Feliciano's face dropped considerably, "But I wanted to feed you..."

"You will do no such thing!" Lovino suddenly shouted, gaining the attention of several onlookers, "Let the bastard have his potatoes!"

"Hey Lovi calm down," Antonio chuckled pulling his boyfriend back into his seat, "This is supposed to be a nice meal."

"Are you saying my presence stops making it nice you bastard!" Lovino screamed and lunged at his still smiling boyfriend in an attempt to wrap his fingers around his throat when a voice was cleared at the head of their table.

"Is there a problem here?"

All four young men looked up to meet the strict and kinda purplish eyes of the manager. A very strict man with slicked black hair (all but one curl sticking out over his glasses) and a beauty mark on his chin. He wore a dark blue suit and a tie with a red apron tied around his waist as it was his company uniform color at the moment, and just all and all did not look very happy. If it had been any other four young men they probably would have been kicked out as we speak but these four young men just so happened to know this restaurant owner.

"Roderich? You own this place?" Ludwig blinked though he really wanted to sigh in relief. He knew the very strict man would never allow Lovino to murder him in cold blood in his restaurant. Hopefully... "Since when do you care about pasta?"

"Silly Luddy, Pasta is wonderful!" Feliciano laughed, "Roderich must know this."

Roderich pushed his glasses up his nose with a sigh, "Actually it is a joint business. Elizaveta wanted to own a restaurant and I wanted to play Music... So I play for an audience here every night at seven and she gets to run a restaurant. Win, win as she would put it..."

"Elizaveta is here!" Feliciano cheered, "Where is she? I want her to meet Ludwig!"

"Calm down Feli," Ludwig whispered, pulling him against his side so he would stop squirming.

"It's her day off today. She doesn't like to work when... _he_ works. Though I don't blame her," Roderich sniffed arrogantly, "Now no more fighting I will send him over to take your order and you can eat and be on your way."

The four nodded and Roderich huffed before turning on his heel and stomping away. The awkward silence from before resumed and continued as they all stared at each other or at opposite places on walls.

Feliciano seemed to be the only one that was happily staring at something, but of course that something was the table's pasta next to them. His stomach growled pathetically, "I'm hungry Ludwig..."

"Our waiter will be here soon Feli... why don't you talk to your brother?"

Feliciano raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend, "He doesn't look like he wants to talk," He gestured at his brother and Antonio who were engaged in a very heated debate that seemed to be whether or not it was acceptable for Antonio to hold his hand in public whether it was under the table or not. Antonio looked like he was having the time of his life, but Lovino looked extremely angry. Ludwig's lips twitched into a smile as he turned back to his boyfriend.

"Can I hold your hand in public?"

Feliciano's eyes brightened and he thrust his hand forward almost hitting Ludwig's nose in the process, "Of course! You can kiss me in public too!"

Ludwig's cheeks colored, "Er... maybe not around your brother..." But he did take the hand, linking their fingers under the table on Feliciano's knee and feeling rather bubbly when Feliciano's smile lit up the entire room. At this point he didn't even care if his waiter showed up to finally take their order-

"Sorry about the long wait, I was trying to do something awesome, you unawesome people wouldn't understand, but anyway I am the awesome waiter you have been waiting for, so uh... yeah what do you want?"

Ludwig blinked, slowly turning away from his boyfriend's brilliant smile to look at the man that was standing before them in a white button up, black dress pants and a red apron alike to the one Roderich had been sporting not long ago. A note book was flipped open in his palm and his white hair, yes _white_, was falling into his redder than the apron eyes. An albino, but not just any albino-

"Hola Gilbert! You never told me you were moving to this neighborhood! I will have to tell Francis right away so we can go get drinks!" Antonio laughed brightly and the man, now known as Gilbert, froze glancing up from the note pad he had been staring so intently at.

"Antonio...? And oh... uh..." His cheeks colored slightly but he covered it by smirking obnoxiously and chuckling, "I was totally going to, you know, tell you that the awesome me had moved here, but I uh... forgot your phone numbers?"

Ludwig sighed, "No you didn't, you just didn't want me to know you had gotten a job. Dummkopf."

Lovino's gaze turned to glare at Ludwig once more, "You know this bastard?"

A sigh, "Ja... that's my older brother..."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Matthew stared at his hand, tapping his fingers against the white surface of his desk. When his fingers rose one of his veins would pop out slightly creating a skeletal look upon the back of his hand, so he continued to rise and drop his finger as watching the vein and listening to the_ tap tap tap_ of his nail against the desk was really soothing him, much more than the dull voice of his history professor. The old man was droning on about the Egyptian Pyramids with a large text book open in his palms as he paced back and forth in front of his less than interested class.

Feliciano had managed to get him out of school the day before but he had no excuse not to show up for his classes today. His teachers wouldn't exactly complain if he was AWOL but Matthew's marks would slip and if his marks slipped then his parents would yell and threaten to stop funding his education for him and for Christ sake, he already had enough problems. He didn't need to make his part time job a full time one so he could have no sleep and no boyfriend thank you very much.

Speaking of that... Matthew's eyes slid away from his finger at last and fell upon the open notebook also on his desk. For the main part of the class Matthew had payed attention and taken notes but it hadn't been long until his mind had started to wander and his pencil began to dip and curve in doodles instead of words.

Scowling at the scribbles he flipped the page in his notebook to a clean one and grabbed his pencil placing the tip against the paper and trying to concentrate on what his professor was saying so he could take notes. It was quite useless though really, no matter how much he furrowed his eyebrows and strained his mind to concentrate his brother's words from the night before kept coming back to him.

_"Alfred and Arthur are doing research right now, to try and see if there's something they can do to fix this problem."_

'Alfred was really trying so very hard wasn't he'... Matthew thought to himself sadly feeling the need to tap his fingers again but he ignored it. 'He must really love me...'

_"This is Arthur here, the man is highly intelligent, he will figure out a few different plans. I have also agreed to add my own input as well. Between the three of us I think something miraculous could happen."_

'Fuck they are all trying so hard... for me... Dammit why do I even deserve this!?' He closed his eyes. clenching the pencil in his hand tightly. No one in the class payed him any attention, partly because he was sat in the back and partly because very few of them knew he was there anyway.

In that moment Matthew made a decision and instead of paying attention and taking notes like he should have been doing all along he pressed the pencil to the paper to hastily scribble -

_Ways To Resolve Romantic Issues_

- Across the top of his page. Alfred wasn't the only one that could put sufficient effort into their relationship and Matthew was going to make sure he tried his absolute hardest to get his man back where he wanted him.

He really just hoped that nothing got in the way of his plans.

* * *

"Shouldn't you be in class?"

"No."

Arthur scowled leaning against the doorframe of the guest bedroom where his brother was staying for the next month or so. "You seriously want to pull that foolishness with me? I'm not Dad..."

Alfred flashed him a bright smile, "You sure do look like him though don't you eyebrows?"

Immediately Arthur's face paled and he rushed out of the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him so he could stare in horror at the caterpillars on his forehead on his own. Chuckling Alfred went back to his note books, looking through the dramatically thought out plan and humming to himself as he crossed certain things out and added certain things here and there.

He was feeling pretty good today, much better than he had been for the past few days, and was finding it much easier to smile and laugh and just goof around while still, of course, thinking about how to obtain the love of his life and all that. But still he was feeling rather bubbly today.

"Mattie you aren't even going to know what'll hit ya," He cackled only to be interrupted by a burst out of "_BLOODY HELL WHAT IS GROWING ON MY FACE!_" which turned his cackling into full blown out laughter as his brother freaked out, very loudly, about his eyebrows.

Halfway through his rant and Alfred's laughter the front door swung open with a loud clang and Francis stepped into the house with a bright grin and a even happier twinkle in his eye at the loud brotherly antics he was hearing. He made his way through the large house and towards the bathroom where Alfred was sitting against the wall (having moved from the guest bed in order to be closer to the freak out) laughing loudly as he clutched at his stomach and Arthur screamed and hollered from the other side of the door.

"Alfred you twat! Why did you point this out to me!? I'm going to have to shave the damned things off just to make sure that I never have to be compared to that bastard ever again and bloody hell it looks like they might be growing bigger! Oh my god I am going to kill you! WITH the razor I use to shave these caterpillars off of my face!" Loud bangs were coming from inside the bathroom as he shouted this, Francis assumed the man was probably searching through his cupboards for a razor to shave/kill Alfred with.

"Ah... Sweet Arthur why must you scream so loudly and harm those beau vocal chords," He chuckled and Alfred's laughter began to calm down slightly as he wiped tears away from his eyes.

"Holy fuck man this is priceless! Do you really think he'll shave them off?" Alfred gasped out and Francis smiled at him grimly.

"Perhaps, but if he did he would certainly lose some of that charming Englishmen attitude we've all grown to love."

"Pshhhh yeah right," Alfred waved a dismissive hand at the Frenchman, "All that has nothing to do with his eyebrows." Francis raised an eyebrow at him and Alfred's grin started to fade slightly and he squirmed where he sat under that stare, "Right?"

Francis shrugged and turned on his heel, "When he comes out here acting like a prim and proper américain tell him that I am raiding his kitchen. Perhaps now _he_ will eat all the burger's at the barbecues?"

Alfred's wide eyes followed the Frenchman for a few seconds before he jumped up and started pounding on the bathroom door, "Iggy! Open up, I'm so sorry you don't look like Dad at all! They're not that bad, don't shave them off!"

In the kitchen Francis patted himself on the back for his good work.

It took a good ten minutes for Alfred to finally coax his brother out of the bathroom but when he finally did Arthur looked very red and sulky, he had combed his bangs down over his eyes so his eyebrows couldn't be seen and barely raised his head up from the floor he was staring at.

"How did you finally get him out?" Francis chuckled lounging back against the cupboards of the kitchen as the two finally joined him, Alfred grinned brightly before taking a seat at the table, Arthur flipped him off.

"I just told him you were in the kitchen."

"Ohohohohoho~" Francis' grin widened, "So eager to see me mon lapin doux?"

"I am not a fucking rabbit," Arthur hissed back, "And no you frog, I just didn't want you stealing my food. Why are you here anyway?"

"Because Arthur, I am here to hear of this magnifique plan that Alfred has come up with to secure the heart of mon frère, am I not?" Francis' grin never wavered when the other man glared at him from where he sat at his own table, "Besides you cannot lie to moi, you are always happy to see me."

"Fuck off Frog..." Arthur grumbled, "What is this plan anyway you twat of a brother of mine?"

"Hurtful Arthur.. hurtful," But Alfred's grin didn't waver, "Let's just say it involves me being a hero!"

"What doesn't?"

"Well I _am_ a hero... plus Melody said this was an awesome idea." Alfred laughed but Arthur's eye twitched at the name.

"You're taking advice from a girl that was naked in a public library?"

"Hush, let him speak mon ami."

"Oh so _now_ you call me a friend instead of a rabbit?"

"Do you _want_ me to call you mon lapin doux?"

Alfred rolled his eyes, "Will you two shut up for a minute? We gotta talk about my plan!"

The other men in the room froze only just noticing that Arthur had in fact been inching forward while still within his chair as Francis inched his way closer as well, both of them had completely forgotten Alfred...

Feeling his cheeks heat up Francis quickly stepped back to lean against the cupboards once more, smiling his usually bright and oblivious grin to hide the pink on his cheeks, "Désolé."

"Ah... Ahem," Arthur coughed slightly as he leant back as well, resting his elbows on the table surface as he faced his brother once again. "Right sorry... continue."

Alfred raised a suspicious eyebrow at them before going back to his bubbly over confident self, "Nah, I'll just show you instead, I wrote it all down! Come on my faithful sidekicks to the Guest room!"

"Alfred would you please act your -" But it was too late for Alfred had already stood and thrust a hand forward as he dashed from the room, making very childish flying noises as he went. "... age." Arthur finished with a sigh before shaking his head and standing to follow him. "Can you believe him? How ridiculous."

Francis smiled softly, pushing himself off the cupboards to head over to the Brit's side, "Now now mon lapin doux," He chuckled when Arthur scowled at this, "He is happy, I would like you to smile that large as well sometimes." He stopped right in front of the other man and Arthur stared wide eyed as the man's usually sexually devious smile melted into something softer and sweeter.

When Arthur opened his mouth, but seemingly couldn't find the words to speak Francis reached forward slowly and brushed back the long blond bangs that were hanging over the other's eyes. "W-what are -"

"Your eyes are a very vivid green that I have never seen in any other person," Francis muttered, "Elles sont belles, ne pas les cacher..."

Arthur's brow furrowed at the unfamiliar language, "Just because I can pick up certain words and phrases in that silly language of your's doesn't mean-" But his rant was cut off rather abruptly when the Frenchman lent forwards and placed a tender, lingering kiss against his forehead. Heat rushed up to the now stunned Brit's face and Arthur's mouth snapped shut, words completely leaving him as he stared wide eyed as his long time friend pulled away from him and once again smiled that weird... tender, genuine smile...

"Just so you know mon lapin, I _adore_ your eyebrows." Francis whispered and Arthur's eyes widened, if possible, even farther as he passed by and left Arthur there to stand wide eyed and confused in his own kitchen.

"What the bloody hell was that?" He whispered to the empty room, hoping perhaps that the fridge or the toaster could answer his question, but of course seeing as they were in fact nothing more than inanimate objects they did not reply and his heart continued to thud loudly in his chest, ridden down and confused by the actions of his long time friend. "Oh... fiddlesticks..."

Forcing his heart to calm itself he made his way to the guest room slowly, not bothering to move his bangs back into place over his eyebrows. Somehow... all of the anger and disgust he had felt towards the caterpillars were gone, in their midst a self confidence that had never really been there before was buzzing, flitting about him like one of the fairies he often saw in his back yard on quiet evenings reading before dusk. It warmed him, but not so much that he didn't avoid Francis' eyes altogether when he finally entered the guest bedroom to Alfred's cry of "What took you so long? This is important you know!"

"Don't act like a spoiled brat, it's not attractive," Arthur snapped back and Alfred stuck his tongue out at him before shifting slightly on the bed so that his brother could sit next to him against the head of the bed. This suited Arthur just fine at the moment as it would put the loud American in between him and the Frenchman. "So what is this oh so clever plan anyway?"

Alfred grinned, "I told you it involves me being a hero! I just need to find some sort of situation where I can be a hero for Mattie..."

"Mathieu will not easily admit to needing help you know Alfred..." Francis sighed, "He rarely even asks it of moi..."

"Indeed," Arthur nodded frowning as he checked out the sketches and detailed plans written all over the notebooks that were sprawled across the bed, "So unless you're going to have us do your dirty work for you and find some sort of situation that will allow you to seem like a great strong hero then I don't see -" He glanced up to be greeted with Alfred's happy face and his own paled, "Oh... oh bloody hell... I'm not going to like this am I?"

"Don't worry dear brother of mine, I just want Mattie to see me be heroic! Your life will only be in danger momentarily."

"W-what!?" Arthur gasped, eyes widening, "Why does my life have to be put in danger at all?"

Francis stayed unusually quiet though it looked as though he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Because... obviously I'm not going to put Mattie's life in danger. That would just be dumb."

"Of course... that's what I thought," Arthur sighed, "My brother sucks..."

"Hey you take that back you Limey Jerk!" Alfred yelled and launched himself at his brother, sending the two of them flying off the bed and onto the floor where they proceeded to have a very childish wrestling match to the amusement of the Frenchman on the bed watching them.

"I wonder what Mathieu is doing now anyway... And if this ridicule plan will even work..."

He glanced down at the notebooks again, smirking slightly at the messy writing that belonged to the love struck blond. 'You do have to give him credit, he thought it out well... Still ridiculous though...'

_Alfred's Super Awesome Heroic Plan To Get Back Mattie_

_Step 1! Disguise Arthur so he looks nothing like Arthur_

_Step 2! Have Arthur like... hang from a tree or a cliff or something_  
_(WAIT, better Idea! Have Francis dress up and pretend to rob him! HAHAHA)_

_Step 3! Make sure Mattie is around to see because this is going to get EPIC_

_Step 4! Beat up Francis and save the day in a sexy way that will make Mattie totally want me_

_Step 5! Make sweet sweet love_

_(Dammit why did I write this in pen! Ugh... Note To Self Step 5! is now Step 6! Because Step 5! is now buy condoms... Actually... make that like... Step 1!)_

Heh, there was no way that this plan could fail, the simple idea of it failing at all is hil-ar-i-ous. Ha ha.

Seriously...

Francis sighed as the wrestling match continued thinking to himself silently for a moment before his eyes widened and he bolted up, "Attendez un moment! What naked girl at the library!?"

* * *

Feliciano stared blankly at his temporary roommate trying futility to figure out why he had been furiously scribbling in a notebook for the past hour and a half. Perhaps longer though, as Feliciano had arrived at the apartment after having visited Ludwig at the shop much later than when Matthew was due to arrive home from school. So really who knew how long the boy had been writing away in that notebook. But he seemed really concentrated on it, Feliciano imagined that him and Ludwig could literally have sex on the kitchen table right next to where Matthew was working and the Canadian still wouldn't have looked up from whatever he was writing.

"Mattie?" He called out just to sort of test the waters but the other man did not look up or acknowledge that his name had been called at all. He tried again, this time a little louder, "Mattie?"

Still nothing... hmmm...

"Mattie, ve~ Alfred is at the door with roses and maple syrup!"

"What!?" Matthew's head snapped up and the pencil he had suddenly gripped a little too tightly snapped in his hand, "Has he already thought of something!? Fuck, I was finally getting somewhere!" His eyes were frantic and Feliciano actually backed up slightly in surprise as his best friend suddenly flew from his seat, knocking over the chair he was sitting in in the process before he swung open the front door with a loud bang.

There were then about ten painful seconds of silence before Matthew took a step back into the apartment and shut the door.

"You lied..."

Feliciano blinked, watching in shock as Matthew trudged his way back to his chair, lifting it off the ground slowly before sitting back down and hunching over the notebook again before he frowned and lent back, staring at the useless pencil in his palm like he had no idea how it had ended up in so many pieces, and really he probably didn't...

"Do you have a pencil Feli?"

Snapping out of his shock Feliciano quickly shook his head before sliding into the seat across from his friend at the little table, "Mattie... what are you writing?"

Matthew's fingers tapped gently against the notebook, he was still staring at it instead of meeting Feliciano's eyes but after awhile he did whisper, "I just want to do as much as I can..."

"As much as you can for what Mattie?" Feliciano whispered back, sensing the sensitivity that had suddenly fallen over the room.

"To fix this... Right? I'm a part of it, I'm going to do something too."

Feliciano blinked and then smiled brightly, "That is a wonderful way to view things Mattie! Ve~"

Slowly Matthew glanced up and smiled back at him, "Thanks Feli... I thought, maybe I could like... talk to someone about it you know? Not like you or Francis though someone who doesn't know me well and can give me like a fresh view of things or something."

"... Sounds like Therapy Mattie. You don't seriously think it's that bad of a problem do you?"

"I dunno..." Matthew whispered, "I'm so... so fucked up. This whole thing is fucking me up, I need to do something."

"I think you're thinking too much, ve..." Feliciano sighed, turning to stare at the fridge with his brow furrowed as he tapped a finger against the table, "We got to get your mind off things for a little while before you go mad..."

"Meh who cares..." Matthew sighed and lent back in his seat just as his stomach gave off a loud growl, "'m starving..."

Feliciano's face brightened, "I know Mattie let's go out to eat!"

"Where?"

"That new place downtown, I was there last night with Ludwig and Antonio and Lovino! The food was really yummy! Ve~" Feliciano sighed happily at the thought of all that pasta and Matthew smiled slightly getting to his feet.

"Alright, let's go then, but you're paying."

"Yay!"

"...Honestly you _want_ to pay?"

"Not really, but I get Pasta!"

"..."

"Ve~"

"Hurry up Feli."

* * *

Elles sont belles, ne pas les cacher... = They are beautiful, do not hide them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_The fields of Germany are beautiful this time of year... when the sun is shining brightly and the grass sways slightly with the wind, like the waves of an ocean. This particular field is littered with little red flowers, their petals so delicate that any strong gust of wind rips them from their home and sends them cascading into the air._

_It's glorious..._

_And it would be so much more beautiful if it wasn't for the color red._

_A young boy with short white hair sat in the middle of this field, hunched in on himself with his knees pulled into his chest. His eyes shone the color of the flower petals dancing around him and he despised them all. That color... the color of his 'unnatural' eyes. All the kids at his school were afraid of him, they called him possessed, a demon... a monster._

_"Gilbert there you are!"_

_The boy looked up at the sound of his name, another boy was running towards him, blue eyes shining happily at having finally found his older brother. Ludwig was normal, Ludwig would never be called a monster._

_"I've been looking everywhere for you bruder, why are you here alone?" Ludwig sat at his brother's side and Gilbert smiled brightly at him, hiding away his pain from his treasured little sibling._

_"The awesome me was hiding from you West! But it seems that your brilliant little mind has managed to find me... How did you do that, huh?"_

_Ludwig's face glowed with happiness at being called brilliant by his older brother and his smile widened, showing off the rows of baby teeth behind his lips, "Because I'm more awesome than you!"_

_Gilbert widened his eyes comically, "You dare say you are more awesome than me West?"_

_"I dare!" Ludwig giggled, "West is more awesome than East!"_

_"Why you little dummkopf!" Gilbert laughed and tackled his brother, delighting in the little squeal of happiness he got in return as they rolled in the flowers. "Mein bruder is not more awesome than me! Take it back!"_

_"N-never!" Ludwig could barely breathe from laughter and Gilbert smirked at him._

_"Then I guess you won't mind being tickled!"_

_"No! No tickling that's cheating bruder!" But Gilbert showed no mercy and began to tickle his little brother with no abandon as the little one squealed and kicked in his arms. "Alright you win bruder, you win! You are more awesome!"_

_"What was that? I didn't hear you, mein ears are bad."_

_"You are awesome!" Little Ludwig screamed it out between his laughter and his brother sat up smiling in victory down at him._

_"And don't you forget it West."_

_Ludwig smiled at him, when he was alone with his brother like this he actually seemed like a little boy enjoying life and not like the shy and strict little boy his parents were working so hard on raising. Gilbert took it upon himself to make sure that, even if it was only with him, Ludwig would have some kind of childlike childhood. So far he figured he was doing a pretty good job._

_"Come on then Luddy, we better get back home before Mutter gets worried." He ruffled the bright blond hair only laughing when Ludwig smacked the hand away trying to fix it so their mother wouldn't be upset over his messy bangs._

_They walked home hand in hand for awhile, but Gilbert being much much taller than his younger brother for now and wanting to enjoy it quickly swiped the younger boy up into his arms before swinging him around for a proper piggyback ride. Ludwig squealed and clutched onto his neck tightly to make sure he wouldn't fall. Once he was sure he was safe with his brother Ludwig relaxed and they were quiet for some time once again._

_"East?"_

_"Ja West?"_

_"You are the awesomest. Und you always will be."_

_Gilbert blinked, glancing over his shoulder at his brother, "... Thanks West."_

_But the little boy was already fast asleep as the sun began to set behind them._

_The next day at school Gilbert was avoided like the plague, as always. He kept his shoulders slouched and didn't make eye contact with anyone, just in case they took looking him the eyes as some sort of curse that might scar them for the rest of their lives or something. He wasn't taking chances._

_"Oh look, it's the monster. When is he going to realize that he doesn't belong with us humans?"_

_Freezing in his tracts on his way out of the school Gilbert turned slowly to see one of the older classmates smirking back at him. "What?"_

_"Didn't you hear me? We don't want you here, you're not normal. You're a _freak_." He spat the word freak at him and something... something in Gilbert snapped._

_"I'm not a monster..." He took a step closer to the boy._

_"Have you looked in the mirror lately?"_

_"I'm not a monster." Another step._

_"Seriously I'm just waiting for you to grow claws to match those hideous red eyes of yours-"_

_"I'M NOT A MONSTER!" And with that he swung his fist back and brought it forward with as much force as he could to slam into the other boys nose and sent him crashing backwards into the wall behind him. A few girl's in the hallway screamed but Gilbert could barely hear them as all his rage and hatred and loneliness came out and he punched this boy, over and over and over despite the pleads for him to stop._

_"B-big bruder?"_

_The world froze and Gilbert's eyes widened as his vision came in to focus on the bloodied face of the boy he had just beaten to a pulp. The boy was flinching away from him, sobbing in pain and there was blood on Gilbert's fist... red..._

_"Y-you killed him... you... you monster!"_

_Gilbert's heart cracked at the tiny wail and he straightened quickly, turning around just in time to see Ludwig dart out of the school. Of all the days for him to want to go and meet him so they could walk home together... "West! West wait!"_

_Ludwig had refused to speak to him the entire night, but instead stayed hidden in their mother's arms. He had been grounded of course and confined to his room, but none of it mattered. West was frightened of him now too... Maybe he really was a monster..._

_He really hated the color red._

Red... red... red... The same color as his own damn eyes was seriously all over the fucking place and it was very much unawesome. Gilbert had to clench his teeth to keep his smile in place as he walked through the restaurant balancing two silver trays with bountiful plates of pasta sat atop them. But it was ok, he was willing to work for his money and the job was good in the general sense of his paycheck and the fact that he got to torture Roderich every other day.

"Here are the awesome specials you have ordered!" He smiled widely at the family of four that was sat eagerly in one of the side booths of the restaurant. The two children had been very taken with Gilbert from his first 'awesome' and therefore giggled in delight at his return.

"Thank you!" The youngest a little girl with pretty blond curls smiled at him and Gilbert grinned at her when he set down her plate.

"Anything for such an awesome bunch of birdies."

The kids fell into a bout of giggles and even the parents smiled at the compliment before they tucked into their meals and Gilbert waltzed off to take the silver trays back to the kitchen. He smiled and nodded at the people that met his eye, ever the gentleman at his job, but as soon as the swinging door with the words 'Employees Only' shut behind him his smile slipped and he tossed the silver trays onto a counter carelessly.

"Gott... I am tired," He sighed dragging a hand through the whiter than snow locks of hair and stretched his back groaning in relief when it popped.

"If you don't mind, we do still have hungry customers you know."

Gilbert smirked, stretching just a bit more sensually at the voice and cackling when he heard a huff come from the general direction of the speaker. He lowered his arms, "Oh lighten up Lizzy, I was just stretching mein muscles."

Elizaveta scowled at him tossing her head back to get the long auburn bangs from her eyes as the skillet in her left hand tapped against her hip and ruffled the red of her apron, "I don't care. Get back to work."

Opening his mouth to shoot off a sarcastic 'Yes Ma'am!' Gilbert was suddenly interrupted by the swinging door which had just been pushed open and smacked him directly in the face. A flash of pain ran from his nose to his brain and Gilbert yelped jumping back from the door with his hand over his nose as the teenager that had just smacked him stepped into the kitchen and Elizaveta began to convulse with laughter.

"Oh um, oh my god was that my fault?" The teenager, a black haired and overly perky boy with a few zit scars on his cheeks named Mark, who also happened to be Gilbert's relief, looked terrified at the thought that he might have actually hurt someone, but Gilbert waved him off, pinching his nose shut to stop any bleeding with one hand as he untied his apron with the other. Elizaveta was still laughing, her arms now wrapped tightly around her stomach as she howled and panted, far too distracted to care when Gilbert tossed the apron over Mark's head and immediately tore off his name tag so he could make a mad dash out of the work place and hopefully not be stopped on his way out the door.

Luckily no one paid him any attention as he scuttled out of the restaurant, though the children from his last table did eagerly wave at him and having a tiny soft spot for children Gilbert waved back at them before exiting his workplace and making his way to the run down apartment he lived in across the street.

He was going drinking with Francis and Antonio tonight, Antonio having called his cell before his shift to inform him of the wonderful news. Francis had been thrilled when he heard that his old friend was indeed in the neighborhood and had actually went out of his way to clear his schedule so he could join the two of them, so of course there was no way that the albino could say no. Not that he would, they were his two closest friends after all.

Gilbert had met Francis and Antonio while the three of them were in High School. It had been a fluke meeting though really, they didn't actually go to the same high school, they just so happened to be the biggest trouble makers at each of their own respective high schools and got stuck doing community service together because of it. As for the reason they were all in America? Well that conversation had been the drunken one that lead to them all being such good friends (besides how fun it was to get into trouble as a trio).

Francis's parents had been looking for a change of scenery at the time and with a son who was always eager for adventure and romance they had set off for Canada when he was only four where not long after they gave birth to another son. Of course being Canadian didn't last forever either for about 14 years later they moved to America hoping to find a new thrill to add to their day to day lives. Of course by the time Francis' little brother graduated high school the French couple had decided it was fair time that they returned to France, leaving their two grown men to fight on their own but checking in and helping out in whatever way they saw fit.

Antonio was a different story altogether. He had been a lowly orphan in Spain for the first ten years of his life switching from foster home to foster home but never really wanted by the parents of the homes. He was passed once to a Foster Home in Italy in fact when all the ones in Spain had run out and that was where he met Lovino and Feliciano, though unfortunately his time in Italy only ran about two years before opportunity arose and he made his way to America where he was taken into a wonderful program that housed and fed him and sent him to school every day. They weren't like real parents, but it was a home. Still Antonio had greatly missed his Italian friends and claims that most of the trouble he had gotten into in high school was because he was acting out on that feeling. Unlike Francis who did it for attention and the pretty girls or Gilbert who did it because he figured he was already a monster, why not act like one?

"It's amazing a trio as fucked up as us can still smile und drink together..." Gilbert sighed as he unlocked the door to his apartment and immediately headed towards his bedroom so he could change into something a little more drink worthy.

Gilbert had gone to America for one reason. His little brother. Ludwig had been sent off to a very special boys academy that was supposed to teach him discipline and leadership and instead of sitting at home waiting for his brother to return he followed him. After all he was already 16 and he saw no reason why he couldn't go and get a job and a crappy apartment so he could watch over his little brother and make sure nothing happened to him. Ludwig had been quick to forgive his brother after he learnt that Gilbert hadn't in fact killed the other boy but the knowledge that his brother had once thought of him as a monster still haunted him and made him want to be an even greater brother than he already was.

The decision to stay in America probably happened when Lovino and Feliciano decided to join them.

"Hey Gilbert!"

Before he knew it Gilbert was already stood in front of the bar he was meeting Antonio and Francis at. Seriously had he been that deep in thought this entire time? He smiled brightly at them as they waved him over to the entrance, "Hey you bastards, never thought I would see your unawesome faces again."

"Do not joke mon ami, we had only moved to this neighborhood two months ago and you were not long to follow, were you?" Francis rested his chin on his fist and winked at his German friend. Antonio only chuckled, smiling as brightly as ever.

"Well I couldn't stay away from you two, though you are not as awesome as me, I would get bored," Gilbert waved off the obvious answer of 'I would be lonely' and gestured to the bar.

"Shall we drink our faces off?"

"Si!"

"Oui!"

* * *

"Ohohohohohohoh~"

"Kesesesesesesesese~"

"Fusososososososos~"

The bad touch trio were seriously _wasted_. None of them were even sure why they were laughing at this point, but it might have had something to do with the bubbles Francis was blowing into his champaign with a straw, or the hiccups that Gilbert had just recently gotten over, or even the large red stain on Antonio's purple button down that had been caused when he forgot to close his mouth after taking a large drink of wine.

Yeah ... they were toast.

"I thinks we need more... more booze," Gilbert practically giggled as he turned his beer bottle upside down, showing his friends that is was empty, but the smile was very quick to fade when he himself realized that he had no beer, "Oh mein gott I cannot survive without beer!"

"Calm down mon ami I will get us drinks!" Francis' cheeks were a very bright pink as he stood, spilling half his drink down his front as he did, before stumbling over to the bar and slurring out an order to the amused bartender.

Gilbert leaned over to Antonio, "I love that French bastard."

Antonio shook his head, "I could never love anyone but my dear Lovi! Hey Gilbert... where is Lovi? Wasn't he just *hic* here?"

Gilbert's brows furrowed, "Maybe he left with a girl to fuck?"

Antonio's eyes suddenly filled with tears, "Lovi how could you do this to me!" He shouted before banging his head down onto the table and sobbing into the tile. Gilbert ignored him and turned to welcome Francis back with his beer.

"Beer!" Ok well he mostly welcomed the beer, "Oh how I love beer. Ich liebe dich, ich liebe dich..." And thus he began to kiss up and down the bottle happily instead of drinking the damned thing.

Francis just sat down and patted Antonio's head, "Antonio is a sad tomato..."

Slowly Antonio lifted his head, "Tomato is a sad Antonio..."

And they fell into drunken, but companionable silence.

From the corner of the bar a young woman started to scream at her boyfriend, "I cannot believe you would rather come here and get drunk instead of stay at my apartment! Honestly I swear that's it we are through you little alcoholic!" She hissed and stormed her way from the bar, most likely loving the amount of eyes that were watching her exit.

Gilbert whistled, "Ouch man..."

Antonio nodded, "He can be the sad tomato now."

Francis snorted, "That's not even bad." And then went back to blowing bubbles in his drink.

"What?"

Francis shrugged, "At least the sex was probabibly... wait..." He frowned, "Probably good."

Antonio and Gilbert shrugged and went back to nursing their own drinks for a while before Antonio glanced up at them and grinned widely. "I think it is time for the town to say Hola to me and my amigos!"

Gilbert and Francis exchanged smirks. "Streaking time!"

* * *

When Gilbert woke up he was cold and his head was killing him. He squeezed his eyes shut against the harsh light of the sun and tried to sense his surroundings. For starters he was definitely not in a bed... And he also didn't seem to be wearing any clothes...

Sighing Gilbert rolled over expecting to fall off a couch at Francis' or Antonio's but instead felt asphalt beneath his skin.

"Oh great... it was one of those nights..." He whispered, understanding very well suddenly why he was cold suddenly and hunching into a ball. What time was it? How many people had walked by and seen him...? Oh god... Ludwig was going to kill him...

Also... where were Francis and Antonio?

Gilbert opened his eyes, trying hard not to vomit when his head pounded in protest, and took a good look at his surroundings. He seemed to be in an alley, well that made his chances of going unseen a little better... but Francis and Antonio were not with him. Shit... he hoped they had gotten home alright.

"Um... excuse me are you alright?"

"GAHHH!" Gilbert screamed, scrambling into an upright position and covering as much as himself as possible to who ever had just walked in on him sleeping naked in an alley.

"Eeek! Oh maple, I'm sorry!" The voice came again from the very front of the alley, "I-I'll close my eyes ok? I can't see you um... being indecent in public?"

Squinting Gilbert could in fact tell that this stranger had gone and covered his eyes so as not to be able to see him, he relaxed slightly. "I was drunk..."

The man's lips twitched but he still didn't remove his hand from his eyes, "I guessed as much... Are your friends ok?"

"I assume they went home. Mein own problems are more important right now..."

"Yeah you are kinda naked in an alley..." The stranger hummed slightly and then grinned, "I know!" Still without moving his hand he unzipped the large red sweater he was wearing that fell down well past his waist.

"What are you doing!?"

"You don't have to give it back, just take it so you can walk home ok?" The stranger tossed the sweater to him and Gilbert caught it, gaping openly at the man who was now wearing only a t-shirt and jeans in the cold weather.

"B-but you'll get cold..."

The stranger burst out laughing, "My home is a lot colder than this. Or my original home that is. Anyway, have a nice day Mr Alley Man." And with that the stranger was lowering his hand, turning and making his way down the street, a book bag swinging at his side as he hurried to what Gilbert assumed was probably school. The albino stared down at the red sweater in his lap and then carefully swung it up and around his shoulders, slipping his arms inside and zipping up before getting to his feet, happy when the fabric fell low enough to hide his most private parts.

Suddenly he wasn't so opposed to the color red. But only because he didn't think he would ever be able to think of that kind stranger without making red his national color.

As he walked home he had no idea what he had just gotten himself into...


End file.
